Day 30 of 40 days to Resurrection day

Today’s suggestion:

Consider fasting a meal or two (or more as the Spirit leads) as a sacrifice unto the Lord.

When your stomach growls with hunger, remember Christ is the only One who can satisfy your longings.

Fasting is not a favorite subject.  It requires too much denying of the flesh.

Jesus told His disciples, “Whenever you fast, don’t be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so their fasting is obvious to people.“

So we can assume that fasting is to be part of our Christian discipline.  There is something about it that is good for us, like praying, reading the Bible, and attending church.

My mother fasted on many occasions.  It was usually when she was desperate to hear from the Lord.  I can remember her preparing lovely meals for dad and me.  But she did not eat.  It made me aware that she needed God more than she needed her stomach filled.

Fasting, like prayer, is a personal encounter with a personal God.  It should not become legalistic.  It should not be a badge of honor we wear to show our spirituality.  But there is benefit to it.  When we fast, we lay aside one of our most basic needs for a deeper spiritual hunger.

I recognize that some people cannot fast food for medical reasons.  But there are any number of things we can do without for a season.  Social media is one.  Shopping, watching TV, drinking alcohol, or anything that consumes large chunks of our time and money can be a signal of where we are investing ourselves.   If we are honest, often we are trying to fill a deeper longing with cheap substitutes.

What is it you love to do more than anything?  Can you deny yourself for 12 hours or a full day?

Perhaps we will recognize that what we really need cannot be satisfied by food or drink or anything in this material world.  We can only be satisfied with Jesus.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!