Lent and Sacrifice

I came across a genius quote the other day by Scott Lees that has made me want to practice Lent. I have never been into the "church calendar," but thinking about how Lent can help me grow in grace in appealing. Now, the typical angle on Lent is that we give up something, sacrifice something for God in preparation for Easter. From what I understand, Lent is a way of taking up my cross and following Jesus. However, Scott's blog post said, and I paraphrase: "Lent is not about what I give up and sacrifice for God, but is about embracing what God has given up and sacrificed for me." When I read that my mind went straight to Philippians 2, where Paul says,

Jesus... made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus didn't just give up french fries, Facebook, or carbonated beverages. He gave up his life. And so I need to be reminded that the gospel majors not on some puny, legalistic sacrifice that I might make, but on the eternity-shaking, incalculably loving, life-transforming sacrifice that Jesus made for me.  If Lent can help get me there, I'm in. Thanks, Scott.