There’s a type of fasting that we sometimes do in church called a “Daniel fast.” This is an interesting fast because it’s not really a fast. When Daniel was in Nebuchadnezzar’s service, Jewish law prevented him from eating what the king had served. The easiest way to stay undefiled was to simply ask for vegetables.

But there was a cost to this - someone who eats only vegetables would end up looking hungry, and no king wants his best subjects to look like they don’t have enough to eat. So Daniel asked to be rechecked after a season of vegetables, and he was fatter than any one of the guys eating the king’s food! My guess is Daniel ate a lot of French fries and rice...

In reality, God was the only reason this worked. Daniel chose to honor God and let God provide the return. This is a great way to live, as trusting God is one of the basic things He asks us to do. Part of fasting is learning to leave the consequences up to God. Less of us, more of Him is always the better choice. Who knows, maybe God will provide us with a reverse miracle of losing weight when we return to a normal diet - but I wouldn’t bet on it.

In Christ,

PD

In Matthew 9:15-17, a group comes to Jesus with some questions. They notice the Pharisees fast. They notice that John the Baptist’s disciples fast. So why aren’t Jesus’ disciples fasting?

So Jesus asks a question Himself: “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” And then, He uses illustrations of using new cloth to patch old fabric and making wine in new wine skins. So what’s He saying?

Not only is He explaining that when He is present with the disciples in the flesh they should be celebrating, but He also points out that when things are new, we can’t do the same old stuff. Rather, old practices must be renewed. So the disciples wouldn’t be fasting the old way because things were changing and they required something fresh.

With the Law, the burden of righteousness was on those who were following the Law. You might say their righteousness needed to be earned, and so fasting was seen as a way to earn God’s favor. Of course, we eventually learn that the true purpose of the Law was to reveal to us that we can’t earn it, which means we needed something different.

Today, we don’t fast to earn God’s favor, but as a way of dying to self so that we might be closer to God. And since it’s the weekend, you might experience that a little bit more. I sure do. Fasting during the week when I’m distracted in the office is much easier than a weekend where I can get bored and I lose the opportunity to ask, “Would you like to go to lunch today?”

But that’s okay - and even good - because we should deny ourselves. Spoiler alert, this Sunday we’re talking about surrendering to God as a part of our repentance process. We’ll be looking at Luke 9 where Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

So this weekend, let it be our joy to deny ourselves in whatever we’ve committed to God.

In Christ,

PD