I grew up in a Christian household. My parents were excellent Christian role-models, we attended church every Sunday and we celebrated all major Christian holidays. We never celebrated Lent though.

I never really had a concept of what Lent was until high-school when a friend explained it to me. It is the tradition of giving up something from your everyday life (an action or object) for the forty days prior to Easter in representation of the forty days that Christ was in the desert before beginning his ministry.

I have kind of "done" Lent a few times; I said I would give something up and it was either easy to do, or I never stuck with it. This year I have asked myself, if I am going to celebrate Lent this year what would I give up and why? Therein lies the problem; should I give up something superficial that has no real impact on my relationship with God or take something that I know I shouldn't be doing and put it aside for almost six weeks? And is this something that God is asking me to do?

Some people give up physical things or actions that are part of their everyday life that will be hard to live without. This is certainly a good way to endure temptation, but how does it draw you closer to Jesus? Does refraining from drinking cola make you a better Christian? Will you be closer to God by turning off your iPad for little more than a month?

Another, deeper idea is to give up something that is a temptation so as to improve yourself and your relationship with God. This will very likely bring you closer to God, but then why only stick with it for forty days? If you see Glee as something that distracts you from God's plan, shouldn't you just turn it off completely? If biking to work instead of driving will make you a more healthy person and honor God, then keep it up!

I also wonder what the point is of this sacrifice in the first place. There certainly were a fair amount of sacrifices made in the Bible as well as requests for sacrifices, but that was primarily before Christ sacrificed himself for us. Does God really not want me to eat mammals or birds on the seven Fridays before Easter? There is no mention of Lent in the Bible (other than as the past tense of loan), so it doesn't appear that God is asking us to sacrifice for forty days prior to the celebration of his Son being risen from the dead.

I don't know if Jesus was planning on us forfeiting something because he gave up food for forty days or if that was our idea. But if that helps you to feel closer to God you should certainly do it because your faith is yours to practice. I would, however, encourage you to do your best to have it make a meaningful impact on your relationship with God. If you're going to give up Starbucks, tithe the money you would have spent on it. If you are going to give up facebook, spend your new-found extra time volunteering in a youth ministry or with Habitat for Humanity.

If you celebrate Lent this year, I challenge you to make more of an impact on your relationship with God than simply ordering a Filet o' Fish on Friday.