“But when you fast,…wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6:17-18, ESV
During the season of Lent, disciples of Jesus practice fasting to connect with Jesus, who fasted for 40 days in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-2).
Unfortunately, we live in a day and a culture where skipping a meal sounds like the latest diet trends. Diet culture has even taken the practice of fasting and turned into a tool for weight loss. At the outset of Lent, it’s vitally important to say that fasting is not the same thing as dieting. Dieting is about losing pounds and inches through self-deprivation. Fasting is about drawing near to God and feasting our hearts on him until we are truly satisfied.
A responsible, informed diet change can positively impact a person’s health and wellness (see Daniel 1:5-15). But fad diets want us to conform our physical appearance to society’s ideas of beauty, for the approval of others. Quite the opposite, Jesus instructs us to fast in such a way that only God sees us fasting, for God’s approval alone.
Fasting is about drawing near to God and feasting our hearts on him until we are truly satisfied.
When we fast, we are denying our physical hunger in order to feast on God. It is uncomfortable to feel hunger, but we are not punishing ourselves. Nor are we torturing ourselves to lose weight or gain physical beauty. When we fast we are only looking to meet with God, to enrich our souls through spending time with him. The hunger of our bodies helps us pay attention to the hunger of our souls, a hunger only God can satisfy.
Make a plan to fast with intention, without showing hunger, difficulty, or devotion to anyone but God.
Emmanuel Reformed Church 