Do you have one of those friends who never tires of telling you how they gave up salt, or meat, or added sugar in one fell swoop and they have never had a moment’s craving since?  Of course you do; everyone has at least one insufferable friend.  Do you believe them?  Not for a minute.  I am highly skeptical of claims people make about ‘never missing’ the things that make food taste like food.

And yet I know that after an initial period of sheer misery that can last for days or years, people can totally get over the desire for a cigarette, which is something many would never have believed until they wake up one day and find the craving gone.  People give up booze for good all the time.  Some take a lot of attempts and a lot of support while others do it without a backward glance.

In my line of work, I have to believe that people can and do change.  Rarely, miraculously, I sometimes even see signs of hoped-for change in myself.  Our Lenten journey is all about opening ourselves up to change.  Real change is structural and deep.  It involves major renovation, not just painting and redecorating.  Real change comes from the heart – the seat of our will and our emotions. 

I don’t know how to change my own heart.  I think I could more easily give up salt than change my own heart.  For heart-changing, I have to rely on grace.  Unless God changes my heart, I know that the changes I might make amount to nothing deeper than a coat of paint applied to a house with a crumbling foundation.

The good news is that God is in the major renovation business: “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) When God changes our hearts, we end up desiring what Christ desires and valuing what Christ values, no longer subject to our own compulsions.

Prayer:  Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer)