Lent is the time to give Jesus what He wants most.

If we ask Jesus this question, he would readily answer. I want to be enough for you! What is Jesus asking with this response? As a compassionate and caring son, Jesus simply wants each of us to understand the extent of His Father’s love for his creation. Then he hopes we grasp what his father sacrificed in allowing his death to reseal that love and save us. God did this without any cost to us except gratitude. This is why Jesus easily responds, I want to be enough for you. He gave all he had that we might live forever.

Have we ever imagined the anguish and pain this choice produced in our God? This is why it fills us with tremendous gratitude and a profound love for Jesus. Jesus is our sincere brother who stands by us, and never counts the cost. He is also a faithful friend who knows our highs and lows and offers support in all situations. When believers accept Jesus for all these reasons, God is delighted. God knows then that we realize why Jesus is enough.

In his preaching, Jesus offers convincing examples of the deep love for him he hopes to see in us. He does this in the tale of the merchant who finds the pearl of great price and the traveler who stumbles upon a buried treasure.

The merchant seeking beautiful pearls finds a pearl of “great price” and is so enamored with the pearl, he sold all he had and bought it. And the traveler who stumbles upon a hidden treasure in a field quickly buries it, sells all he has, and buys the field.

Jesus then makes the point that both wants what they find so strongly that they easily give up everything they have to obtain their new found treasure. Jesus looks for the same kind of excited, enthusiastic, eagerness from his followers. He wants to be “our enough” where we easily give up everything to follow him.

While Jesus has everything he needs, he knows we are here to share his Father’s goodness too. Therefore, when His son Jesus is “our enough,” we help Jesus share the good news with others. St Francis de Sales explains this way; “God has placed you in this world not because he needs you in any way… but only to exercise his goodness in you by giving you his grace and glory”

Isn’t this reason enough to sell whatever holds us back, and invite Jesus to take its place. It’s a wonderful offer: we make our lives full, while helpings others do the same. In this way Jesus is enough for us and everyone else too!