This year we’re collaborating with writers across the Augustine Collective, a network of student-led Christian journals, to bring you a series of short devotional articles during this season of Lent, the 40-day period prior to Easter. Find this series also published by Cornell’s Claritas and UC Berkeley’s TAUG.
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life”
John 3:16. A verse we Christians who grew up in church have heard a thousand times. A verse that holds the very essence of the Gospel—and yet, we sometimes overlook its importance. We say the verse, but does it still shake us? Does it move our hearts? Or has its weight been dulled by repetition?
That is the danger of knowing God in our heads but not in our hearts.
Growing up, I was raised in a Christian family. I went to church and attended a Christian school. Bible classes consisted of memorizing chapters of the Bible, learning theology, and studying every book in the Bible. I wasn’t allowed to watch “secular” shows; Veggie Tales, The Torchlighters and McGee and Me replaced Disney Channel and Cartoon Network. My whole life was wrapped in Christianity. I knew of God, but did I truly know him? Had my heart been truly transformed by Him, or was he only another subject I had mastered?
That’s the struggle of growing up in a Christian environment. We hear Bible stories so many times that they can lose their special meaning over time. They simply become another familiar tale. We can talk about Jesus dying for our sins and yet it can become just another phrase we’ve been conditioned to say.
And now, it’s Lent. Another tradition, another season we’ve been told to observe. It can be so easy to pick something to give up just because everyone else is doing it, or because we were taught to. When we are so focused on the ritual, we can forget the true purpose behind it. Lent isn’t just sacrifice, it’s preparation. It is a season to reflect and prepare our hearts for God. A time to remember Jesus’ life and death, and focus on him instead of ourselves. [1]
So let me ask you: When was the last time you read John 3:16 and truly pondered over it? When was the last time you stopped to thank God for sending His Son to die for you?
This Lent, let’s not settle for a surface-level faith. Let’s not turn the most powerful truth into a cliche. Take time to sit with God. Read your Bible, not out of obligation, but because you want to know Him. Talk to Him throughout the day, not just in the morning because it’s part of your routine. Let your faith be more than something you grew up in, but something that truly transforms you.
We’ve heard this message so many times. But maybe we need to hear it a thousand times more until it moves from our heads to our hearts. Until it becomes more than just words, but the very foundation of our lives.
So this Lent, let’s pause. Let’s sit with the truth of John 3:16 and ask ourselves—do we truly know Him? If not, let’s seek Him with everything we have. He is waiting for us, not to just know him, but to be with Him.
Annabelle Bann is a freshman studying Hotel Administration and Hospitality at Cornell University.
[1] https://www.christianity.com/wiki/holidays/what-is-the-purpose-of-lent.html
0 Comments