Fast - Lent Day 3

 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? Isaiah 58:6

"Daddy, why do we fast?"  Good question…why DO we fast?

More important than “how do we fast,” is the question before us…”why do we fast?”

Fasting involves abstinence.  We give up or stop something.  Food tends to be a favorite item to give up.  Why?  Because it’s an easy choice.  I will give up meat…or chocolate…perhaps all candy.  Is that OK?

Actually, the process of giving up something is secondary to why.  “What is the end result?”  “What am we trying to accomplish,” should be our question.

Isaiah’s list can be condensed to; loose, untie, set free and break.  We are held as in a vise and fasting is designed to loosen the vise.  Imagine hands and feet tied and your body  not able to move freely.  Fasting unties the knots and sets free.  It is the method God has designed to give you freedom.

Fasting methods are numerous; to give up or not, to stop or not, to end an activity or not to end.  Fasting is a choice made by you and God.  The end results?  Well, they are already delineated…  to loose the chains of injustice  and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke.

Are you ready to untie some knots?  Ready to break free?

Ask Jesus for guidance and begin your fast.

Comments

Post a Comment

Feel free to comment.

Popular posts from this blog

Are You Listening?

  Are you listening to me?   Did you hear what I just said?   You are on another planet and did not hear a word I said! Listening is more than just hearing.   It is paying attention with your ears, eyes, and mind!   Eyes?   Yes, your eyes.   Did your schoolteacher surprise you with…” Pay attention !”   Was your teacher asking you merely to listen, or was the command meant to cause you to focus your ears, eyes and mind on classroom teaching? The Bible contains over 100 verses covering listening.   We listen to parents, friends, spouses and omit the most important source…God.   Have you allowed God to speak to you recently?   Are you listening? James, the brother of Jesus, gave us a gem of God’s truth.   Let’s read it together.   Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! James 1:22 ...
Read more

The One In Charge

I have a problem.   Can you help me? The item that I recently purchased is not working correctly.   Please help me. If you can’t help, can you call the person in charge?   It’s frustrating when something doesn’t perform as the instructions have led you to believe it should!   Have you experienced this?   Hard-earned money is spent, time wasted with unreadable instructions and finally, the object just doesn’t work.   You need the maker, the creator, or perhaps, the person in charge.   The men were moving with purpose.   They heard that someone was nearby who might possibly be able to solve a problem.   The Ten, as they were known, had done their homework.   The research was flawless and pointed to one man, one expert who could help.   He was the one who could give the answer to an impossible problem.   The Ten were lepers.   Outcasts!   They had no one on their side.   No one cared!   They wer...
Read more

But God...

  He was selfish, narcissistic, and devoid of compassion.    He cared for no one and used people for his own pleasure.    One day, he was given the opportunity to help a poverty stricken person…he failed miserably!    The situation was not what it seemed, as the one who was seemingly in poverty was actually a personage of great authority and stature.    The selfish one was given a unique punishment.    He was driven away from society and given a limited time to learn how to love and thereby earn the love and trust of another. You may have already guessed who the character is…yes, it’s The Beast from  Beauty and The Beast .    A spoiled prince was punished, transformed into a beast, for his lack of love and caring, yet he learned to love through a series of circumstances involving a lovely young lady, who by the way, learned to love him.    The climax of our story comes when Beast dies, and Belle expresses tr...
Read more