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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do,
for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell
you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on
your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you
are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees
what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Matthew 6:16-18
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be
to God.
Today is the final devotion in a short series based on
Jesus’ teachings in His Sermon on the Mount pertaining to the matter of self
glorification. Up to now, we have covered the matter of giving to the needy and
prayer. Today, we look at the matter of fasting.
Before we get too far into looking at God’s word, let’s
get a good working definition of what fasting is. Easton’s Bible Dictionary
renders the following:
“Both the Old
Testament and New Testament teach the value of fasting, which is abstaining
from food or drink in order to focus on prayer and seeking God's will. Through
many examples of people in the Bible who fasted, we can know that God grants
supernatural revelation and wisdom through this practice. Scripture tells us
that fasting will help us grow a more intimate relationship with Christ and
will open our eyes to what He wants to teach us.”
So obviously we know that fasting is scripturally
endorsed and practiced, a spiritual discipline intended to help a believer come
into a more intimate relationship with the Lord. Given this, let’s build a
little background on the matter of fasting from the Old Testament before we
move into the New and the words of Jesus.
Let’s start by looking at how fasting was mandated in Old
Testament Law.
The following
regulations are to be observed for all time to come. On the tenth day of the
seventh month the Israelites and the foreigners living among them must fast and
must not do any work. On that day the ritual is to be performed to purify them
from all their sins, so that they will be ritually clean. That day is to be a
very holy day, one on which they fast and do no work at all. These regulations
are to be observed for all time to come. Leviticus 16:29-31 GNT
“Be careful to
celebrate the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of that same month—nine days
after the Festival of Trumpets. You must observe it as an official day for holy
assembly, a day to deny yourselves and present special gifts to the Lord. Do no
work during that entire day because it is the Day of Atonement, when offerings
of purification are made for you, making you right with the Lord your God. All
who do not deny themselves that day will be cut off from God’s people. And I
will destroy anyone among you who does any work on that day. You must not do
any work at all! This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from
generation to generation wherever you live. This will be a Sabbath day of
complete rest for you, and on that day you must deny yourselves. This day of
rest will begin at sundown on the ninth day of the month and extend until
sundown on the tenth day.”Leviticus 23:27-32 NLT
Gather for worship
on the tenth day of the seventh month; eat no food and do no work. Numbers 29:7
GNT
The tenth day of the seventh month was the Day of Atonement,
the one day of the year set aside for the ritual atonement of sins for the
Israelites nation. It was a very holy day on the Jewish calendar, a day when offerings
of purification were made for the Israelite people who were to not work or eat
and were commanded to gather together to worship and get their lives right with
God. The mandated denying of food made the day one specifically set aside for
fasting and it would remain the only such day until after the Babylonian exile.
This is what the Lord
Almighty says: “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will
become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love
truth and peace.” Zechariah 8:19
Here we find the Israelite people observing fasts four
times a year, each meant to not be solemn times of repentance and reflection
but rather “joyful and glad occasions” and “happy festivals”. They were to be
days of celebration punctuated with love, truth, and peace. These weren’t words
conjured up by Zechariah but rather words spoken by the Lord Almighty through
His prophet. The Lord had determined to once again do good to Judah and
Jerusalem (Zechariah 8:15) and the people were to rejoice that they were once
again living in God’s favor.
Fast forward to Jesus’ day. Within the context of one of
Jesus’ parables, the scriptures tell us that the Pharisees, the Jewish
religious leaders of the time, fasted twice a week (Luke 18:12). Perhaps it was
the Pharisees who Jesus was targeting when He provided this teaching on the
matter of fasting during His Sermon on the Mount. Look again at His words here:
“When you fast, do
not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show
others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in
full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it
will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father,
who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward
you.” Matthew 6:16-18
Obviously, there were some God followers who were making
quite a show of their fasting. As they deprived themselves, Jesus tells us that
they would look somber, as if saddened by their self deprivation, or
disfiguring their faces in an obvious attempt to draw attention to their
actions. Note that as we saw in the matters of charity giving and prayer, Jesus
refers to those drawing attention to themselves as hypocrites for making
themselves the object of interest instead of the Lord they were supposed to be
developing relationship with.
You see, the whole point of fasting was between the
faster and the Lord. There was no need for anyone else to be involved or even
aware that the fasting was happening in the first place. This is why Jesus was
railing against those who were self glorifying during a fast instead of
honoring and glorifying the Lord they were supposed to be honoring and
glorifying. They were making it a public matter instead of a private one.
Jesus sets the matter of fasting straight by telling His
listeners how they were supposed to do it. They were to freshen themselves up
so to appear as they always would, not drawing any attention to the fact that
they were depriving themselves. In keeping it secret, they would receive the blessed
outcome of proper fasting which was a richer intimate relationship with their
Lord and our relationship with Him can never be too close.
Our take away from this series is that we are to avoid
drawing attention to the things we are doing in order to grow in our
relationship with the Lord and others. Self glorification is a big no-no.
Instead, we are to:
Give to the needy in secret where only the Lord knows
what you are doing.
Pray in secret where only the Lord can hear your prayers.
And fast in secret, as you seek to draw nearer to your
Maker and Master, becoming more of the person He desires you to be.
Tomorrow, we begin a series, looking at how Jesus tells
us to pray. See you then.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be
blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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