Thought of the Day !!

One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, “Why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do?” Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Matthew 9:14-15 (NLT)

We see here that Jesus was expecting his disciples to fast after he was taken away. As his disciples today, are we to take that as a command to us as well? After all, he never stated, “Thou shalt fast!”

I think this passage makes it clear that Jesus expects us to fast as a spiritual discipline. Maybe it’s been forgotten, because unlike the Lord’s Supper and Baptism, it’s not something we really want to do. But should this keep us from doing what He desires of us? When I was growing up my mom told me to eat vegetables that I didn’t want to eat and expected me to do so. It was because they were good for me. And in the same way, fasting is good for us. So even though Jesus never said, “you shall fast.” He did expect that members of the Kingdom of God would practice fasting so that they could be strengthened by this spiritual discipline.

In the biblical sense, most fasting is doing without food but not without water for a certain period of time. In Esther’s case, she did without both for a period of three days in preparation to go unannounced to see the king. In Daniel’s case, his fast was not eating the choicest of foods. For us it could be doing without anything that’s important to us for a period of time, as long as this time is used to help us understand our reliance on God and bring us closer to Him through prayer and reflection on His Word.

There comes a time in the Gospel of Mark where Jesus even tells his disciples that a certain kind of healing can only be done with prayer and fasting. So let us not forget this great discipline that allows us to intentionally spend more time with our God while giving something up to remind us just how utterly dependant upon Him we are.

In the love of Christ,
greg