Imagine a rusty bolt on a door that has sagged on its hinges. For years, that bolt has never been shot efficiently, except by hammering it or by lifting the door a little and wriggling it home with effort. But let a skilled worker unscrew that old bolt, rub it with emery paper, bathe it in paraffin, polish it with fine sand, oil it generously and reset it with nicety. That bolt will now move with the touch of a finger, with the pressure of a feather. You could almost blow it open and shut. That is what Lent is all about; resetting the bolts on the doors of our hearts.

What causes this bolt to perform inefficiently is improper care. What causes us to live inefficiently in our relationship with God is sin. Sin creates a callousness within us. It creates a false sense of well being. Lent is our annual time to address sin in our lives, from the very root of sin. 

Notice the worker doesn't just continue the same process as before. Instead, he goes to the heart of the problem. We can cover over our sins or we can cleanse our minds and bodies and embrace the will of God in a given area.