What image comes to mind when you think of God? How can art and beauty draw us closer to Jesus?

This year’s Lenten devotional is called “Picturing God.” A group of pastors, scholars, and folks who love Jesus have worked together to create a devotional that is inspired by the power of art, specifically religious art, to point us to God.

Each entry focuses on one piece of religious artwork (broadly defined), connects it with Scripture or the life of faith, and offers a reflection on how this image can deepen our experience of Lent and/or our spirituality. The people writing these devotions are not art historians or professional art analysts. They are followers of Jesus who are seeking to explore art as an aid to our prayer, aids to the study of Scripture, and a location where the Holy Spirit might meet us and turn our hearts to God.

This devotional includes entries for throughout the season of Lent, but will not be released daily. For the first several weeks of Lent (beginning on Ash Wednesday, February 22), there are entries for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, of each week. Beginning on the Wednesday before Holy Week (March 29), we move to daily entries, which run through Easter.

May God open our eyes, so that we might see God’s glory together.