Are you fasting from something? What have you learned thus far from your fast?
As many of you know, Lent is upon us, which means it's time to fast from all of our 'sinful' habbits....You know...things like chocolate, TV, fast foods, alchohol, texting, sex, coffee, and the list goes on.
Let's get rid of those thing for 40 days. That's what we need to grow closer to God. That's what we need to grow closer to each other. That's what we need to strengthen our Spiritual lives.
Right?
How does getting rid of those things help our community? How does getting rid of those things help our relationship with the Father? How are we showing the love of God through our fast? I definitely recognize the usefuleness and even necessity of fasting from certain aspects of our lives. I myself am currently taking part in a fast for Lent. However, I want to look at the reasons behind our fasting.
Lets take a simple pleasure that we all enjoy...ice cream. (I like mine with cholate and carmel) I decide for whatever reason that this wonderful blessing must be sacrificed to this year's Lenten Fast.
Why?
How does a lack of ice cream help me grow closer to God, strengthen the Christian community, or spread God's love and glory?
I can tell you that it will help my weight, self discipline, health, and maybe even my wallet. And besides, everybody else gives up something for Lent, so I better sacrifice something as well. Who wouldnt' want to lose a few pounds while practicing 'spiritual discipline' with everyone else?
I feel that many of us (including myself) don't really get the point of fasting from something for a period of time. We see that Lent is coming up, people begin to fast for things, and we feel that we should probably fast too since every other Christian is. We get this idea that we're bad Christians if we don't give up something for Lent. So we give up something...something easy. Something that may or may not benefit us in some earthly way. Something that isn't too hard to sacrifice, but hard enough to attract attention.
That's not the idea.
The idea is, that you fast from something to grow closer to God. To learn about yourself. To learn about others. Replace that 'thing' with God. Pray instead of watch TV. Go visit your friend instead of talking online. Say "hi" to the not-so-cool kid (probably me) on your way to class instead of listening to your iPod. While you're fasting from your 'thing,' take a close look at your behavior. Your thoughts. Your words. You might be surprised at what you concentrate on without certain things in your life. You might be suprised to see how you change yourself because of a lack of something in your life. Maybe you'll even feel lost because you have let that 'thing' define who you are.
Maybe a fast is a life changing experience....
Mabye a fast is a temporary lifestyle change...
Mabye it become permanent...
Maybe that's the point...
In the Bible, people typically fasted just before or after a drastic life change. One example comes from the city of Ninevah, where we read about the King issuing a decree in response to Jonah's Gospel message. The King says; "Do not let any man taste anything;do not let them eat or drink. But let man be covered with sackcloth." (Jonah 3:7-8). The Bible tells of fasts where people would only eat the very bare essentials to survive. They would wear uncomfortable clothing. They would pray all day long. The fast would effect every part of their life.
They gave up a lot more than ice cream.
