To Fast or Not to Fast

How to Develop Character COnsistent with God.

Have you ever contemplated fasting? I have and can honestly admit that I am often immediately consumed by thoughts of deprivation. After all, in an on-demand society where virtually everything can be delivered to your front door within two hours, depriving myself of anything seems archaic.

There is also the question of if God requires us to fast at all. In Isaiah 58: 6-7, after the people complain about God not noticing their fast, the prophet says to them:

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"

This scripture suggests that true fasting is a matter of the heart that is expressed by our love for God and his people. Denying my flesh the things it desires and has instant access to is an act of humility and postures a surrendered heart. It is an expression of my love.

By surrendering during a fast I open myself up to be searched by the Lord and to be loosed from chains. I lay down every unpleasing thing in my life so that my mind may be renewed by the time spent with God. I open up my heart to the Lord so that it may be guarded. For his word also says, "everything you do flows from it." and "For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.".

I hope that through fasting wisdom, knowledge, and faithfulness flow from my heart. I do not fast to receive but to develop the character that is consistent with God's plan for my life while improving my confidence that His will, will be done. Will you deny your flesh today to become more of who God has called you to be?