2006-10-20
Good Morning Dear Ones,
We continue the journey that God is conducting through the Bible on the subject of fasting. We are given an example of involuntary fasting experienced by Paul when he was in Corinth in 2 COR 6: 3-7. This was a time of hardship and trouble for the church in Corinth. Paul's first visit to this bustling port city was part of his second missionary journey and was first recorded in AC 18. He worked as a tent-maker with Priscilla and Aquila, and preached the Gospel in the synagogues. "We do not want anyone to find fault with our work, so we try not to put obstacles in anyone's way. Instead, in everything we do we show that we are God's servants by patiently enduring troubles, hardships, and difficulties. We have been beaten, jailed and mobbed; we have been overworked and have gone without sleep or food. By our purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness we have shown ourselves to be God's servants-by the Holy Spirit, our true love, our message of truth, and the power of God. We have righteousness as our weapon, both to attack and to defend ourselves." Paul's message was to endure in faith through it all. He wanted reconciliation badly between himself and the challenged church in Corinth.
With our comfortable lives in the present in a country where most people have their physical and material needs met, it is difficult for us to relate to the scarcity of food Paul is discussing. And yet, for the sake of understanding the deep commitment of the church to Christ, we must stretch to understand it. We must also know that Paul was seeing his willingness not to give up in the face of hardship as his personal commitment to his faith and the ministry God had given him. He was setting an example for the others, something a real leader is often called upon to do. I'm not suggesting we should try involuntary fasting just to test our own commitment. But, I am encouraging us to better understand that it could some day happen to us as a result of the situation we find ourselves in, and we need to take the attitude of trust in God that Paul is demonstrating. Somewhere within the depths of Paul's mind, even at times when he complains in 2 COR 11: 16-29, for example, Paul knew that God would see to his needs and those of all true believers. We must ask ourselves if we believe it too.
Let me return to the OT for an example of true fasting found in IS 58: 6-11. To understand the context of God's comments relayed by Isaiah here, we must know that the Jews were in a state of disobedience to God which had been increasing for many years. Eventually, this would lead to God punishing them with the first dyaspora [scattering and loss of nationhood that was the Babylonian Captivity for seventy years]. In response to the people's question in IS 58: 3 of "why should the people fast, if the Lord never notices?," in (4) God says, "The truth is that a the same time you fast, you pursue your own interests and oppress your workers. Your fasting makes you violent, and you quarrel and fight. Do you think this kind of fasting will make me listen to your prayers? When you fast, you make yourselves suffer; you bow your heads like blades of grass and spread out sackcloth and ashes to lie on. Is that what you call fasting? Do you think I will be pleased with that?" Then God proceeds to make His will on fasting clear in (6-11), "The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free. Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives. Then My favor will shine on you like the morning sun, and your wounds will be quickly healed. I will always be with you to save you; My presence will protect you on every side. When you pray, I will answer you. When you call to Me, I will respond. If you put an end to oppression, to every gesture of contempt, and to every evil word; if you give food to the hungry and satisfy those who are in need, then the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon. And I will always guide you and satisfy you with good things. I will keep you strong and well. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water that never goes dry."
There are important lessons in this passage from Isaiah for us. We may even know people who believe that the kind of fasting and resultant behavior seen by the Jews of Isaiah's time is acceptable to God. They may even rationalize as the Jews did that they bring themselves closer to God by causing their own suffering by deprivation. It's hard not to think of other groups that engage in such behavior and rationalization- the Catholic monks who beat themselves with knotted robes in the Middle Ages comes to mind. People depriving themselves of food or beating themselves surely don't set themselves up to make godly moral decisions or behave in ways that please God. God is interested in our relationship with God and with others around us. He wants us to think, decide, and act according to His will. Hypocritical behavior is hardly His will. We are reminded in 1 COR 6: 19-20 that our bodies are "the temples of the Spirit" and that "we don't belong to ourselves but to God. He bought us for a price, so use our bodies to God's glory." What was that price? It was the Atonement of God's only begotten Son for each of us, so that we could be saved; that was the price!
PRAYER: O Lord, we know Your power and knowledge is so far greater than ours [IS 55: 8-9], that we seek You out and worship You for Your wonderful attributes, Your mighty and righteous deeds. We often behave in ways which don't please You, and we seek, with Your help, to recognize that and to stop the offending behavior. There are many reasons for this, but we now approach Your mighty throne asking for Your help to stop rationalizing bad behavior and learn to replace it with Your ways. You promised us in EPH 3: 12 that we could do this. "In our union with Christ and through our faith in Him we have the boldness to go into God's presence with all confidence." You have spoken to us often through the Scriptures, which we know we are to study daily [PS 1: 1], and through prayer. JER 33: 3, "Call to Me, and I will answer you; I will tell you wonderful and marvelous things that you know nothing about," You say to us. We hear You and recognize our utter need for Your help to live righteously. As we study Your word and pray, listening to You speak to us after quieting down our spirits from the stimulation of the world around us. You show us why we should obey You faithfully. The alternative is unthinkable to being called home in Your perfect time to live in blissful fellowship with You in heaven. Your Son has taught us in the parable of The Ten Virgins [MT 25: 1-13, particularly verse 11] that hell is conscious torment for eternity, and no true believer wants that. We offer You our genuine love and worship. Along with that is our sincere thanks for making it possible for us to be heard by You and be blessed for faithful obedience by You. You are a compassionate, gracious, and generous God, and we seek You out not only to help solve our problems, but to praise and honor You by our willingness to put You in the center of our lives. We offer this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Next week, we will begin looking at occasions for fasting. Yes, I stand in amazement that the Holy Spirit is giving me so much to write about fasting. I'm sure this is happening, because for many of us fasting has been a difficult subject. So, here we are, being made to look at what a blessing fasting can be if we are willing to do it God's way and not to the devastation of our physical bodies. We are being made to see that it is one more tool God has given us to establish communication with Him which is God-pleasing. We should consider the hard work, which requires the very rest of our physical lives and began from the day we were born on this earth, that God is doing to sanctify [purify and perfect us in preparation for our journey home to Him for eternity-glorification]. He creates situations that force us to stretch and grow in our spiritual maturity. He urges us to watch Him at work in our own lives and those of others around us. Through the Scriptures, He encourages us to learn His ways and reveals Himself to us. He wants us to see the consistency of His teaching from the OT to the NT. Most of all, He wants us to return to His side for eternity [JN 6: 39-40; EPH 1: 4-5]. I never dreamed this kind of love could be available to me, until I became a true believer in Jesus Christ in my late 20's. It is He and His unselfish sacrifice of His physical life on the cross that made such a thing possible for everyone willing to repent and believe in Him [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. Fasting is there for us, if we need it and it's appropriate. The IS 58 example above shows us one example of why and how it should be done. Look around and see the many examples of how God is acting to bring each of us closer to Him. We can't help but want to praise, worship, and thank Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn