Every January for the past six years I’ve taken part in a 21 day fast. The idea is to set the spiritual tone for the rest of the year.
I’ve heard it said before, this can be your best year ever if it’s your best year spiritually.
But I hate it. I hate fasting.
I don’t deny it’s a great way to start off the year. Praying, fasting and seeking after God. What I hate about it is what it reveals about myself.
It always show show incredibly undisciplined I am (maybe that’s why “discipline” is one of my words for the year). How I’m consumed with hunger for food. How I’ll cave to temptation and cheat on my fast. How I’ll compromise and change the fast to make it “easier.” How it becomes less spiritual and more diet.
What I hate about it is how a season/time of denying the flesh and focusing on God becomes just the opposite.
A time of focusing on the weakness of the flesh.
So this year I’ve made a conscious effort to use that to my advantage. Whenever I feel the weakness creeping up, I use it as a reminder that weakness is where Christ wants me (2 Corinthians 12:9). That as my body hungers for Pittsburgh steaks, it should really hunger for a deeper, more intimate relationship with Christ.
And that is where I find myself. Craving all sorts of food, but being reminded that my hunger should truly be for Christ.
For all you fellow fasting peeps out there, what are some ways you keep disciplined and focused on the right things when you fast?
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