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Multimedia Lent Devotional – Monday of the First Week of Lent

February 22, 2026

Each short Multimedia Lent Devotional is an invitation to set aside time each day during the season preceding Easter. Lent is a solemn 40-day period we observe as we seek to draw near to God prior to the great celebration of Easter.

During Lent,

  • we intentionally practice sober reflection, serious repentance, and sincere restitution, in which we more fully recognize our brokenness as humans, looking always to Jesus Christ as our Savior and sanctifier;
  • we seek to live lives marked by simplicity, self-denial, and surrender, in imitation of Christ Jesus, who fasted for 40 days in the wilderness before He began His public ministry;
  • we look for ways in which we express love for neighbors and nations in need in practical ways through generously giving of our time, talents, and treasures.

This collaboration is brought to you by Liberty Vineyard Church

2026:

Monday of the First Week of Lent:

  • Scripture: Leviticus 19:1-2,11-18 (Mariana Dannelley)
  • Reflection (Jim Roberson)
  • Prayer (Bart Parker)
  • Videos: Matthew 4:1-11
  • Music: “Holy Is the Lord” (Simon Khorolskiy) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_402FDIG_Y

2025:

Monday of the First Week of Lent:

  • Scripture (Don Vick) – Matthew 25:31-46
  • Reflection (Shelly McClain)
  • Prayer (Ally)
  • Music: “Matthew 25” (Seventh Day Slumber) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlA3YUR_8Tc

2024:

Monday of the First Week of Lent:

Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18 – “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy … You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; and you shall not lie to one another. And you shall not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God: I am the Lord. You shall not defraud your neighbor; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a laborer until morning. You shall not revile the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind; you shall fear your God: I am the Lord. You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the Lord. You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”

For anyone who has hung around the Bible for a while, even the mere mention of the word “Leviticus” can cause us to brace ourselves, as it’s not the easiest book of the Bible to read or understand. In this, the middle book of the Torah, God gave his people very practical and precise guidance on what they were to do in order to “be holy,” which was to be set apart in order to avoid the very real temptations all around them to love and worship other gods. In the modern era, we might think we’re immune to that kind of thing. Maybe “other gods” conjures up images of statues to whom sacrifices are offered. We might consider ourselves too sophisticated for that kind of thing. But we are tempted in the same ways in which others have been tempted since the dawn of human existence. We are tempted to love and worship other gods. If a friend asked us how to tell if they really loved someone or something, we might ask them to examine where they’re devoting their thoughts, talk, time, talents, and treasure. It crosses the line into “worship” when that someone or something occupies the central place in their life of which God alone is worthy.

Back to Leviticus – we might have honest questions about whether these laws even apply to us now since we are no longer under the law, as Galatians 3 makes plain. God had given his people instructions for life, but the reality is that the Torah had not brought humanity together to reflect God’s oneness, as God desired. God’s faithfulness has never been in question. It’s we who have missed the mark. But now, we can rejoice that because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, all who believe are made righteous by God, and transformed into the image of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, Messiah – fully God, fully human – is the righteous one who embraces and empowers us to be able to know who God is and who we are! That good news of God’s kingdom, that we get to proclaim and demonstrate, is that in Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we together reflect God’s oneness, by participating with God as transformed people who transform the world. We get a glimpse in this Leviticus passage of how we do that, something that Jesus would later affirm is the first and most important way of all – the way of love.

2023:

Monday of the First Week of Lent:

  • Scripture (Kelsey Vick) – Psalm 19:7-9, 14
  • Reflection (Nancy Penton)
  • Prayer (Tamera Neal)
  • Video: Matthew
  • Music: “The Least of These” (Matt Maher)

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