The holidays are behind us and a new year has begun. I am filled with anticipation about what this year could have in store. But New Year resolutions are for another day. Today I am meditating on fasting.
Fasting is, probably, my favorite Christian Discipline. It is amazing to me how doing something so small can have such great rewards. I confess, it is difficult for me to pray sometimes. I get discouraged, or lethargic, distracted and impatient - fasting brings immense clarity for me.
My hunger pangs (though I have done some research and it appears they are not hunger pangs, which start in starvation mode approximately 36-48 hours after your last meal, but rather my body's addiction to an insulin response) are my reminder and transport into prayer. With as active as I like to be, fasting makes me very mindful of God's presence. I get weak and that instantly catapults me to the place of prayer, asking for God's strength to be glorified in my weakness.
All of this intro is to talk about the beginning verses of Luke chapter 4. I will be working through Luke in the coming weeks, so you can track with me if you would like. I am aiming for 4 or 5 posts on the blog each week, so we should work through it rather quickly.
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. (Luke 4:1,2)
Jesus had just been baptized by John in the Jordan and was full of the Holy Spirit. And it was the Holy Spirit that led him into the wilderness, the place of trial and temptation. In the wild, Jesus was tempted by Satan for forty some days. Only three instances are recorded in Scripture for us, but I would venture a guess that there were many more.
What fascinates me about these two verses is what is mentioned and what is not. For forty days Jesus was tempted, but we have no record that he rebuked Satan, read the Bible or prayed for extreme amounts of time (though it is more than likely that he did). What is recorded for us as Jesus' primary mode of resistance is fasting. He ate nothing for forty (40!) days. Jesus chose to fast for the trials and temptations he would face. It is only after this period that we have the recorded temptations and Jesus' Scripture-based rebuttal.
And then, when Satan tempts Jesus to turn stones into bread, his response is "Man does not live on bread alone." Jesus clearly had the power to turn stones to bread, but he chose not to. He chose to live as a human being, dependent upon God for his provision. But in the same way, he also acknowledges that there is more to sustaining a human than food. Jesus' god was not his belly.
Fasting brings clarity like nothing I have ever experienced before. I very quickly realize what I am (human, weak, dependent), who I am (irritable, cranky, and yet still loved by God) and where I am (in the wilderness of the world, waiting for Jesus come back and make all things new). It puts me in proper place before God Almighty and because of that, makes communication with Him clearer than when I am full up with the goodies that the world has to offer.
Those are the thoughts of my heart this morning. I pray you begin to look at fasting in a new way and even begin asking God is fasting is something He wants you to do.
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