Matthew 6:16-18

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/The_Sermon_on_the_Mount.htm

Fasting is the third spiritual discipline Jesus teaches His disciples to practice in a private manner.  Giving and prayer were the other two.  Fasting is the practice of giving up eating in order to be able to dedicate more time on concentrated prayer.  Food is not the only thing that can be given up in a fast but it is the most common.  Paul also mentions couples who choose to refrain from sexual relationships for a defined period of time in order to dedicate themselves to prayer.  The reason that Jesus gives for fasting in private is to qualify for rewards from God.  Eternal rewards should be a constant source of motivation in our lives.  Even though we don’t know a lot about the function and impact of eternal rewards, they ought to motivate us.  Based on what we know about God and the emphasis that Jesus placed on rewards; we should all be very excited by the prospect of being rewarded.  Rewards should encourage us to practice the discipline of fasting in a biblical manner.

GLOOMY FASTING: Like most spiritual disciplines, fasting can become a source of spiritual pride.  The Pharisees in the days of Jesus started to use fasting as a means of drawing attention to themselves and impress others with their “spirituality.”  Jesus was unimpressed.  When they were fasting, the would put on a gloomy face, not bathe, wear old clothing, mess up their hair and try to look sickly.  Their desired response was for people to ask them what was wrong so they could inform and impress them with the answer that they were fasting.  Jesus taught that this recognition from others was the only reward that would ever be associated with this type of fasting.  The reason for fasting should always be the glory of God and the growth of His kingdom.  Fasting that is made visible to others is only self-serving and will cause others to be repulsed by our attitude and therefore have no interest in the kingdom of God we claim to be promoting.  There is no place for “gloomy fasting” in the life of a true follower of Jesus. 

GROOMED FASTING: Jesus teaches His disciples to wash their face, anoint themselves and practice good and normal personal grooming habits when they fast.  The goal of doing this is so nobody would discover they were fasting.  Normally we try to keep our sins a secret and our virtues public.  Jesus teaches us just the opposite.  Sins proliferate and reproduce when they are kept secret but become much less powerful when we expose them and seek for help from the body of Christ.  Jesus wants us to fast in such a way that men will not notice our fasting.  It may be necessary to let some immediate family members know we are fasting in order to avoid needless meal preparation.  But the general rule is to not talk about our fasting or try to make it visible to others that we are fasting.  Secret fasting is seen and appreciated by God and will be rewarded.  Those rewards can range from answered prayers to eternal rewards granted in heaven.  Fasting, like giving and prayer, should be a regular discipline we practice as believers and like giving and prayer should be practiced in private.


APPLICATION: Make fasting a regular part of our spiritual discipline.  Use times of fasting to intensify and increase our times of prayer.  Don’t talk about or make the fact that we are fasting obvious to others.  Use God’s promised rewards as a motivation for fasting, praying and giving.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Isaiah 54:1-17

Hope is a wonderful blessing from God, without which we would be vulnerable to all kinds of destructive tendencies in our lives.  Today’s society is marked by depression, anger, fear, anxiety and self-righteousness, in large part, because of the sense of hopelessness that prevails in our culture.  Isaiah writes to a people who are about to be taken into captivity because of their sin.  God knows that they will feel rejected, threatened and hopeless so He reveals His future plans for the nation in order to give them hope in the midst of the coming trial.  Hope is the expectation of good based upon the promises of God.  Many times when our lives are marked by the sins mentioned above it is because we have forgotten or failed to focus upon the promises of God’s Word. THE PROMISE OF GOD: From the very first day that God revealed His plan for the nation of Israel, He promised numerous descendants.  God chose Abraham, not because he was more righteous than any of the other people of his
Read more

1 Timothy 1:3-7

As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not   to teach any different doctrine,   nor   to devote themselves to myths and endless   genealogies, which promote   speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.    The aim of our charge is love   that issues from a pure heart and   a good conscience and   a sincere faith.    Certain persons, by   swerving from these, have wandered away into   vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law,   without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.   There will always be false teachers that come into the church attempting to distract people from the truth and destroy people’s faith.  When this happens, it is the job of spiritually mature leaders to confront these false teachers and correct their teachings.  However, it is important that this correction be accomplished with the right motives and methods. 
Read more

1 Timothy 2:11-15

Let a woman learn quietly   with all submissiveness.    I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.    For Adam was formed first,   then Eve;   and Adam was not deceived, but   the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.    Yet she will be saved through   childbearing—if they continue in   faith and love and holiness, with self-control. There is certainly controversy and confusion about this passage in many churches today.  The idea of a distinction between men and women and their roles in the family and church certainly goes against the flow of many cultures around the world.  Some would argue that the literal and plain teaching of this passage is no longer applicable to today’s culture.  However, it is always dangerous to discard biblical teaching or try to interpret Scripture based on the cultures in which we live.  Certainly, the Spirit who inspired this text was aware of the many changes that would occur in future cul
Read more