A Holy Fast

 

 

 

Scripture

Joel 1:14

 Sanctify a fast,
    call a solemn assembly.
Gather the elders
    and all the inhabitants of the land
to the house of the Lord your God,
    and cry out to the Lord.  (NRSV)

Devotion

The Season of Lent is a wonderful time to take on new practices that help us grow closer to God as we follow Jesus to the cross.  One of the ways that many Christians choose to do so is by taking up a spiritual discipline.  Spiritual disciplines are activities designed to produce a certain behavior or characteristic that help us grow in spiritual maturity.    

There is a wide variety of spiritual disciplines out there.  Some, like alms-giving, are outwardly or community focused.  Others, like certain prayer practices, are more inwardly focused.  The more we practice each discipline, the more the behavior associated with it becomes like second nature.   While every option doesn't work for everyone, the disciplines can helps us die to the things of this world and be reborn into Christ's better way of being.  This Lent, the second blog post of each week will highlight a different discipline.  Perhaps there is one that you will be willing to try.

Today's spiritual discipline is observing a holy fast.  When folks hear the word "fasting", they usually think about giving up food.  From a spiritual perspective, to fast is to voluntarily abstain from a worldly thing for a set amount of time.  What we give up should be something for which we have a particular appetite.  It may be food; but it could just as easily be shopping, social media, or something else that we tend to give a good bit of our time and attention.  

Fasting can have a powerful effect on people's lives.  As we empty ourselves of that item or activity, we can use that "cleared out space" to remember all that Jesus gave up for us.  The pangs and cravings we feel help us reflect on how great his sacrifice was.  Finally, we make room for God's Spirit to speak to us in ways that we have trouble hearing when we are preoccupied with the thing we are abstaining from.

If you choose to observe the discipline of fasting, there are a few things to keep in mind.  

1. We should be intentional about what we plan to fast from.  Is that object something that takes up too much space in our lives...or is is something that we picked out of the blue because it seems easy to avoid?  If its the latter, then we won't be have the emptying and cleansing effect of making a real sacrifice.  Similarly, if we always choose to give up the same thing, we might take time to ask if that fast still has the effect that it once did.  It may be time to try something new.
   
2. We should be healthy about it.  God does not want us to damage our bodies, minds, or relationships in order to prove that we have the willpower to  give something up.  For instance, in order to safely fast from eating meat during Lent, I need to make sure that I am still getting certain vitamins in other ways.  If your fast is making you weak or ill--if it is hurting your job performance, mental/emotional heath, relationships--then it is time to stop...or at the very least to modify your behavior.  You should also speak to a healthcare provider before embarking on a physical fast.    
   
3.  We should remain mindful of why we are giving that thing up.  A holy fast is not a weight loss trick or self-improvement shortcut.  Such things may be side effects of the fast we take on, but the point of the discipline is to clear out space to focus on deepening our relationship with God.
4. We should not brag or make a big to-do about our fasting.  Jesus himself said that those who put on a big show of their sacrifices and their piousness have already gotten an earthly award the form of the attention they receive.  Meanwhile, those who are less obvious about what they are doing and try to go about life as usual will receive their spiritual reward from God, who sees all that they are secretly doing to grow closer to him (Matthew 6:16-18).

If  there are things or behaviors in your life that should be cleared away in order to make more room for God, then I invite you to spend at least part of Lent observing a holy fast.  Maybe you can't give that thing up for 40 days, but I bet you could start with a week...or a day... or even a single hour.  However long you choose to abstain from the things of this world--or even if you choose not to do so at all--may we all ask God to cleanse our spirits and make room for us to hear Christ's call as we travel closer to the cross.

Prayer

Create in me a clean heart, o God, and renew a right spirit within me.