Spiritual Disciplines: Fasting

This Sunday we will be continuing our series in Spiritual Disciplines looking at fasting. Fasting tends to be one of the most misunderstood of the Spiritual Disciplines, and like most things we can’t make sense of or understand we don’t pay much attention to it. We might agree that it’s a good thing to do (Jesus said it was in Matthew 6:16-18, and demonstrated it Himself in Matthew 4:1-11), but we still have a hard time following through and actually doing it.

I believe the main reason we struggle with fasting is because of all the Spiritual Disciplines it is the most invasive in our lives. It changes our daily rhythms and schedules. It affects us physically. It is hard to hide that we’re fasting if we’re in a public place, and then there comes the issue of explaining what we’re doing without sounding “holier than thou”! In short, fasting disrupts our lives.

Fasting is good for us for that reason alone, because out of all the Spiritual Disciplines, fasting demonstrates most clearly what it means to be a follower of Christ. When we accept Jesus as our Saviour and say that we will follow Him, He enters into our daily rhythms and schedules and rearranges them so that they are in line with His. This change in our lives should be hard to hide from others, especially family members and co-workers. Following Jesus affects all areas of our lives, and fasting is a simple reminder of this.

Pastor Mike