Fasting
We will go back to the prophecies, but since this is the season of Lent, when you may be hearing a lot of talk about "fasting", let's look at what the Lord has to say about Fasting. First of all, why does the Christian church obvserve a Lenten Season? The Lenten season precedes the observance of the suffering, death, and burial of our Saviour, and the celebration of His Resurrection on Easter. Lent is a season used to prepare your hearts and minds to realize your need for a Saviour from your sins. It is a time for you to reflect on your life and the fact that you can not keep the Law of God perfectly. You can not love God above all things, nor can you love your neighbor as yourself. You NEED a Saviour.
First of all what does Jesus Himself say about fasting? Matt.6:16-18 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Jesus wants us to be humble, not stand out and say "look at me and what I am doing, aren't I good!" He wants us to live a God pleasing life so others see GOD not us! The greatest reward a Christian can feel is seeing how God uses the witnessing He does through us.
Now here is what the prophet Isaiah says in Is.58 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they are a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. Why have we fasted, they say, and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves andyou have not noticed? "Yet on the day of your fasting you do as you please, and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarlling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing ones' head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and the malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sunscorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient riuns, and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob" the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Do you see the Gospel in this OT reading? Do you see Jesus telling us to live as His Children, loving God above all things, and our Neighbors as ourselves? Do you hear Him telling you not to be proud of yourselves for what man calls a sacrifice? Fasting should be a lifestyle, not just a once in a while thing! Let us humble ourselves before our GOD, love Him first and our neighbors as ourselves.
First of all what does Jesus Himself say about fasting? Matt.6:16-18 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."
Jesus wants us to be humble, not stand out and say "look at me and what I am doing, aren't I good!" He wants us to live a God pleasing life so others see GOD not us! The greatest reward a Christian can feel is seeing how God uses the witnessing He does through us.
Now here is what the prophet Isaiah says in Is.58 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they are a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. Why have we fasted, they say, and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves andyou have not noticed? "Yet on the day of your fasting you do as you please, and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarlling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing ones' head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and He will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and the malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sunscorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient riuns, and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob" the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Do you see the Gospel in this OT reading? Do you see Jesus telling us to live as His Children, loving God above all things, and our Neighbors as ourselves? Do you hear Him telling you not to be proud of yourselves for what man calls a sacrifice? Fasting should be a lifestyle, not just a once in a while thing! Let us humble ourselves before our GOD, love Him first and our neighbors as ourselves.
posted by Michael A. Redwine at Saturday, February 12, 2005
<< Home