“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and 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 6:16-18 ESV)
There was a time that I was distasteful of fasting. Not just because I loved food, but because I've always thought of this as pretentious or hyper spiritual. I didn't quite understand and found it hypocritical to see people fast and pray. The reason behind this distaste was because the people that I had around me who does such things lived lives which you may define as someone of a lower level of spiritual maturity. I've always thought that fasting was only for those who in the graduate school of the faith. It's for the hardcore and shouldn't be done by the lowly beginner sinner like me. Boy was I wrong.
There was a moment in time that I joined a fast and I opted for the beginners level in fasting. I took the 3 day water fast option and I really found it hard to keep up with my friends who seemed to have trained in fasting. I was just on my 8th hour when I felt my stomach churn and mouth salivating while my other friends munched on chips. I soldiered on and kept my course to finish 3 days of fasting. And true enough, by the grace of God, I finished my fast and I ended it with grabbing my own bag of chips while lounging in front of my TV. Everything was the same, I just felt proud that I finished such a feat. And since I felt no gain from it, I never understood the need of why people do it. I followed the program, I read my Bible instead of eating, I went through the starvation that one should feel during a fast, I endured the temptation of eating and did it for 3 days. I ended the fast the same man who struggles with the same stuff that I struggled with when I started and never felt anything magical within me. I concluded that day that fasting was baloney. And if you could see my heart then, the reasons why I went through the fast and what was going on in my mind, you would agree with me in that statement.
Like everything else, it's all about the heart. Like the popular saying goes, the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. Fasting didn't do anything for me that day because everything from start to finish was wrong. My heart was wrong, my motives was wrong and my mind was wrong. Going back to the verse that I introduced in the beginning, you'd see that fasting is all about one person, and that person is not you.
As you can see in this verse, there will always be one rewarding fast and one fast that the verse describes as rewarding, but for me, you'd probably feel short changed. Let's go for the first one.
Not-Fasting
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
This was the kind of fasting that I hated and this was the kind of fasting that I did. I went through and did all the things that one person should do but with different motives. I made sure that everyone knew of my fast, I looked gloomy, in pain and made sure that everyone took notice that I pushed through and let everyone knew that I finished 3 days. This kind of fasting is like letting everyone know on twitter what you're going through.
Jesus called them out and let everyone know what they're after. Giving the statement that they have received their reward made us see that these guys are only after peoples affirmation.
Fasting
But when you fast, anoint your head and 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.
This is what it's all about. Like everything else in the Bible, these practices would all center in on God. By my understanding, fasting would be a person's own devotion through self-inflicted weakness in replacing his usual joy with God.
In this day and age we're easily drowned with a lot of things so our usual escape would be the stuff that would be able to give us instant gratification. Think of it like a microwave driven society. Everything is on a quick fix level. Instead of cooking and preparing a meal, we would opt for instant meals. Add hot water and everything would be fine. Our joy and appetite is quickly caught by everything else which pushed the reality of God in our lives to an idea. Fasting cancels all that out. By quitting these quick joys, you're going to rely on God to satisfy your appetite. Real fasting is a declaration that God is not just an idea but a real God.
I missed out on this one during my 3-day fast. God is the real reward, and if you don't understand that enjoying God is the real idea of fasting then you'll end up like me, short changed. You just starved yourself for affirmation from people. Real fasting wouldn't require the notice of other people but the fasting itself is the reward.
Fasting is not for the people with high levels of spiritual maturity. I was wrong in my distaste in the act. Fasting is for everyone, for the beginner in the faith and for those who have walked with Jesus for a long time. Fasting is for everyone who says yes, I delight in Jesus and I would want to delight in him more during this period. This is for people who'd want to hear from Christ more instead of yourself. This is a period of time that you enter your secret room and declare a personal declaration that God is real and you're doing it not for anything else but the reward of being in a relationship with God.
Let me encourage you to go on a regular fast. It doesn't have to be food all the time, you can go and fast for the things that usually gives you satisfaction. May it be media, technology usage or anything that you usually spend a lot of time in. I'd usually point on the things that I do when I'm bored and that's what I'll identify to abstain during my period of fasting.
So if we're struggling with something in our lives, may it be a recurring sin, temptations or anything else, lobby your petition to God during these times. See what would be the things that you'd want to give up during this period and enjoy God all for the glory of God.
Fasting
But when you fast, anoint your head and 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.
This is what it's all about. Like everything else in the Bible, these practices would all center in on God. By my understanding, fasting would be a person's own devotion through self-inflicted weakness in replacing his usual joy with God.
In this day and age we're easily drowned with a lot of things so our usual escape would be the stuff that would be able to give us instant gratification. Think of it like a microwave driven society. Everything is on a quick fix level. Instead of cooking and preparing a meal, we would opt for instant meals. Add hot water and everything would be fine. Our joy and appetite is quickly caught by everything else which pushed the reality of God in our lives to an idea. Fasting cancels all that out. By quitting these quick joys, you're going to rely on God to satisfy your appetite. Real fasting is a declaration that God is not just an idea but a real God.
I missed out on this one during my 3-day fast. God is the real reward, and if you don't understand that enjoying God is the real idea of fasting then you'll end up like me, short changed. You just starved yourself for affirmation from people. Real fasting wouldn't require the notice of other people but the fasting itself is the reward.
Fasting is not for the people with high levels of spiritual maturity. I was wrong in my distaste in the act. Fasting is for everyone, for the beginner in the faith and for those who have walked with Jesus for a long time. Fasting is for everyone who says yes, I delight in Jesus and I would want to delight in him more during this period. This is for people who'd want to hear from Christ more instead of yourself. This is a period of time that you enter your secret room and declare a personal declaration that God is real and you're doing it not for anything else but the reward of being in a relationship with God.
Let me encourage you to go on a regular fast. It doesn't have to be food all the time, you can go and fast for the things that usually gives you satisfaction. May it be media, technology usage or anything that you usually spend a lot of time in. I'd usually point on the things that I do when I'm bored and that's what I'll identify to abstain during my period of fasting.
So if we're struggling with something in our lives, may it be a recurring sin, temptations or anything else, lobby your petition to God during these times. See what would be the things that you'd want to give up during this period and enjoy God all for the glory of God.
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