“I humbled myself with fasting” Psalm 35:13
Hello ladies! I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful warm weather! Alright, since I know a lot of us gave up things for Lent, the devotional this week is about fasting. About two days ago, I was working at Spoonful and had kind of a rude awakening from God as to what he intended the purpose of fasting to be. See, I gave up sweets/desserts for Lent so that day at work I was doing 2 things: a) throwing a huge pity party for myself because I really wanted some candy but couldn’t eat it, and b) kind of praising myself for having such great self-control that I didn’t even eat a single gummy worm. I mean, how annoying is that! No one wants to be around someone who willingly gives something up, complains about it, and then wants praise from others for abstaining from it. So I decided I better take a deeper look in to what God says about fasting.
First of all, why fast? Fasting in itself is of no spiritual value, but it’s the attitude of a heart sincerely seeking Him to which God responds with blessing. Fasting signifies humility, demonstrates repentance, appeals to God for protection, is a form of worship, empowers us for spiritual warfare, and makes us stronger in Him when we feel weak. Fasting and prayer does not change God. It changes us. It is not twisting God’s arm to get him to do our bidding but rather positioning ourselves to receive the grace He freely gives and to do His bidding. Fasting and prayer combined removes the hindrances to our peace. It ensures the sincerity of our humility, repentance, and acceptance of pardon so that we no longer feel estranged from God. It helps us humble ourselves and lift up others who are oppressed so that we remove tensions from our relationships.
On the sermon on the mount, Jesus said “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father , who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:16-18) Notice that it says “when you fast”. Jesus is already assuming that we are going to fast, so right away it’s clear that I shouldn’t think I deserve praise from others for doing something that we’re all called to do. It also says not to make it obvious when you fast. Why? Because fasting isn’t about gaining the approval of others or showing them how ‘good’ of a Christian you are. Romans 14:10 says “Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.” It doesn’t matter if other people know what you’re doing (or not doing) or visa versa. In the end, we will all answer to God and God alone. He knows about all the sacrifices you are making to follow Him so don’t worry about if everyone else does (side note: it’s still SO important to have other Christians to confide in who will comfort, encourage, guide you, and disciple you in your walk with Christ)
The void left by whatever you have given up should be filled by Christ. “The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength.” (Isaiah 58:11) You don’t give something worldly up to replace it by a different worldly thing. I don’t give up sweets just to replace them with bread or coffee or diet dr. pepper. Fasting is an expression of the heart’s longing for a greater intimacy in our walk with Him. It is to set aside our physical appetites and the time required to prepare meals (or the time you would normally spend doing whatever you’ve given up) in order to focus more of our time and attention upon the Lord.
Ok, last verse! I read this verse for the first time today and kind of laughed out loud at how blunt God is. I mean, He is of course a God of love, but He’s is so not afraid to call you out if you’re going against his will.
“They [the people of Israel] act like a righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God.. They ask me to take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near me. ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!” ‘I will tell you why!’ I respond. ‘It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers. What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the Lord?” Isaiah 58:2-5
I think this speaks directly to what so many Christians get in the habit of doing now. We have a checklist of ’godly’ things to do each day, and once we do them all we wonder why we aren‘t seeing God move in our lives. Well, maybe it’s time for us to check our motives behind why we’re doing those things. Does are motivation for doing certain things come from wanting to show God how much we love him? Because if you’re doing certain things just out of habit or tradition or to look good, then there really is no reason to do it. Fasting can be just another way we put on the front of being a Christian, or we can really use it to grow in our relationship with Christ and affect others through it.
Currently Listening To: Where I Belong by Cory Asbury
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUsZ9LHNM40
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