Fast Part Two

 

I have been mulling over the part fasting should be playing in the age of grace. For two weeks, I have questioned my friends about why they fast. Most of my friends said the same thing: to get close to God or hear God. My friends are kind and allow me to challenge their thought processes or debate them concerning their answers. Yesterday at church, God finally brought a complete response to me about fasting.

Imagine yourself on a date or having an intimate dinner with someone, and they took out their phone and started scrolling. What if you were talking to a friend and they walked away from you to do something else? How would you feel if someone you loved screened their calls and refused to pick up the phone to talk with you? All three of those scenarios are how we treat God. God looks at the relationship with His people as a marriage. There is not one marriage that can survive without intimacy or that special closeness withheld for only one.

When we read verses about drawing near God or abiding with God, most people think of religious acts performed for God. Fasting is one of those acts. But, you see, God does not want us to perform for Him; God wants that one-on-one time reserved for Him. He wants us to set aside all the business of the world and make a date with Him. We are just like our Creator; we want those we love to spend quality time with us.

When Jesus fasted in the Bible, He was drawing close to God. Hunger is the strongest desire on earth. Spending time with His Father was more satisfying than food could ever be. For the ladies out there, remember the first few months with your love and how much weight you lost. That overwhelming passion is what God wants from His bride, not some contrive acts of service.

If you want me to talk about fasting as a form of repentance, then you need to remember we live in grace through faith that if we confess our sins, God forgives. Period! If fasting is the way you clear away the noise of this world so you can talk to God about essential issues, then yes, by all means. But at no point should fasting become the act of penance. Jesus paid it all, so stop insulting Him.

James 4 is a perfect example of how God feels about the things of this world coming before Him. I explain it this way to my ladies. Imagine your husband bringing home a girlfriend and having sex in front of you. The Holy Spirit lives inside us, and He must endure every godless action we do that we not only justify but love more than Him. Verse 5 says it best,” God jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us.” Let me sum it up this way. We not only cheat on God, but we also dare to bring cheap flowers called religious acts to appease God. How would you feel? Are flowers enough for the insult of cheating?

Fasting is not the problem. How we set up the date with God is personal for all of us. So, the question for all of us is the same. Are you singing, fasting, feeding the poor, or whatever you do, done out of love, adoration, or passion for God? Or are you trying to rectify a matter with a religious act? Are you performing to satisfy your own need to feel righteous instead of repenting? Are you performing for attention?

We all have to take notice of our quiet time with God. Devotion time should never be about checking a box. You are on a date with God. Ask Him what He wants to do today. Maybe He wants you to read a chapter to help defend yourself that day. Perhaps He wants you to gain His wisdom by reading Proverbs. God just might want to have a conversation. You won’t know till you ask. Whatever you do, ensure it is done from a heart of love and not under compulsion. No one wants to be with someone because they have to be. Your Creator wants you to choose freely.