Friday July 19, 2013. Luke 5:33. And they said to him, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” As I meditate on this verse this morning, I think back on the time I have fasted and the meaning it had for me at the time. I remember the first time I fasted and the results of it were I realized I had some physical additions I had never really paid any attention to but needed to deal with. Fasting can cause me to think more about Jesus and the part he plays in my life. When I feel the pangs of hunger they should cause me to contemplate my relationship with Him, and it does. The problem is that when I began to do it on a regular basis it becomes more of a ritual, something I have to get through, than a spiritual exercise. I began to do it without really thinking about it. One of the disciplines of the Friends(Quaker) Church, which I grew up in, is the idea of not starting, or continuing, traditions. Anything that is done on regular routine will over time lose its meaning. Maybe that is why regular fasting was not a part of the Old Testament Law that was given Gods people. Moses prescribed fasting only once a year on the great day of atonement. It was to be a strong remembrance of the sin in their life. Lord, I ask that anything I do to enhance my relationship with you, whether it is prayer, communion, fasting, or any of the other disciplines that you lead me into, be done out of longing to be closer to you. I pray that they do not become something I do every day, or every time, just to get through them so I can say, “there I have done for today” and cross it off my list. Amen.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Jul 2013 12:06:14 +0000
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