Last week I was in New Orleans and the festivities for Mardi Gras were about to kick off. The city was ready for tourists from all over the world coming in for the renown celebration that has been around since 1699. One of the cab drivers explained to us that the ‘big day’ was Fat Tuesday, because it was the day before Lent. I looked at my husband and said, “It’s so sacrilegious that they would celebrate in the way they do right before Lent. I wonder why it’s the Tuesday before Lent?” This question of course led me to educate myself as to why Fat Tuesday is always before Ash Wednesday.
The name Mardi Gras literally means FAT TUESDAY, and it comes from the Christian and Catholic tradition of slaughtering and feasting upon a fattened calf on the day before Lent. The purpose behind it was to say ‘farewell to the flesh’ and prepare for 40 days of fasting. The word Gras or FAT came into the picture because they would eat their merry hearts out before entering the fast, and have a CARNAVALE or a party before 40 days of consecration. What’s amazing is that the colors chosen in the 1700s had great significance as well: Purple as a symbol of justice; green representing faith; and gold signifying power.
As I’ve taken the time to think about this it reminds me that I can’t live my life having FAT TUESDAYS, preparing myself to have a relationship with God periodically, and doing whatever I think I shouldn’t do to be good enough for Him. Instead my relationship with God needs to be continual. The amazing thing is that the more I know Him, serve Him and seek Him, I can have a continuous ‘carnavale’ because His life in me leads me to have a continuous celebration, but not just to celebrate indulging in things I will let go of temporarily; but instead basking in the realization that He is my JUSTICE, my FAITH is in Him, and through HIM I have authority which translates into power (greater is He who is in me).
So if you know that there are things that you need to let go of, do it today, FAT TUESDAY, in the traditional sense of what it means, and allow yourself to develop a relationship with Him that leads you to live in a perpetual ‘carnavale’ without all of that senseless, useless stuff we don’t need. Let this be the last FAT TUESDAY of your life, and let’s get moving towards what God has in store for us!!!
Philippians 3:12-14, “I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.”
