It’s Lent. Let’s think on what we should and shouldn’t do.
Let’s NOT be like these folks:
Genesis 11:4 (MEV)
Then they said, “Come, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top will reach to heaven, and let us make a name for ourselves.”
Those Tower-of-Babel builders made a name for themselves all right — just not the one they had in mind.
Lord God, I don’t want to be like these proud and foolish babblers.
I want to glorify Your name and not my own. 
Revelation 21:5 (NIV)
He who was seated on the throne said,
“I am making everything new!”
God is at work. Making things new is His job.
My problem: I think it’s all about me. I think it’s my job.
I can’t do what You do, Lord God.
It’s all Your plan, all Your power.
I watch in amazement.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
the new creation has come:
The old has gone, the new is here!
The new is here.
My problem: I have to let go of the old.
I’m ready, Lord. Goodbye old, hello new!
Romans 5:4 (GNV)
As Christ was raised up from the dead to the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life.
Walk in newness of life. Step out on a new path.
My problem: I’m used to my old paths. New is unknown, and I like to know where I’m going.
Walk with me, Lord. Show me the way.
Ephesians 4:24 (ISV)
Clothe yourselves with the new nature, which was created according to God’s image in righteousness and true holiness.
Clothed in an outfit created in God’s image.
My problem: This is a new nature for me. I’m used to selecting clothes off the rack in a store. Righteousness and holiness feel foreign.
Clothed in Your image, God . . . it’s hard to imagine.
Make it so.
God says:
Isaiah 43:19
See, I am doing a new thing!
He offers a new thing, a new life.
My problem: When I try to do a new thing, I get same-old, same-old.
Lord, I want the new thing, the new life.
Let’s do it Your way.
Repentance leads to revival.
Isaiah 57:15 (EXB)
I give new life to [revive the spirit of]
those who are humble [lowly]
and to those whose hearts
are broken [contrite; repentant].
I repent. God revives (in that order.) 
“I learn from the Scriptures that repentance is just as necessary to salvation as faith is, and the faith that has not repentance going with it will have to be repented of.”
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Lent is a season of reflection. As I consider my actions and attitudes, I notice how often I make excuses for my poor decisions. I blame them on circumstances, or I tell myself it’s someone else’s fault, or I decide it’s no big deal.
O Lord, I repent of my lack of repentance.
Some married couples decide to renew their wedding vows. Maybe they’ve been taking each other for granted. Maybe they’ve broken trust. Might be they’ve just drifted apart.
The same thing can happen between us and God. We find it in Christ’s words as revealed in the last book of the Bible.
Revelation 2:4 (ESV)
But I have this against you,
that you have abandoned
the love you had at first.
Lent is a good time to renew our vows with God.
Forgive me, Lord, for neglecting You.
I renew my vows to love and serve You.
Lent is a season of self-evaluation,
a time to identify our sins.
Matthew 6:12 (ERV)
Forgive our sins,
just as we have forgiven
those who did wrong to us.
Self-evaluation may uncover old hurts and grudges.
Forgive my unforgiveness, Lord
Teach me to forgive as You do.
It’s a time to fix broken relationships — with God and with others.
