Lent Day 38, Friday, Mar 26, 2021

“Food Fast for 24-hours”

Hooray!  It’s the Challenge that everyone has been eagerly anticipating!  Today begins a 24-hour fast from food.  

Every Friday during Lent this year, we’ve encountered a diet-related Challenge.  We call this practice “Fasting”, which is simply defined as the removal of certain foods and beverages from our diets for a specified amount of time to honor God.  Fasting, as a religious practice, has been around for thousands of years.  Two thousand years ago, Jesus fasted in the desert for forty days.  One thousand years before Jesus arrived, King David and most of the prophets entered into fasting as a sign of love, remorse, devotion, and sacrifice.

Fasting is still practiced throughout the world as many physicians recommend fasting to help in overall and specific health and wellness.  Fasting is like anything else:  with practice, it becomes easier because the body adjusts to it.  These last few weeks during Lent, we have engaged in various fasts to prepare for today.

Now for the rules:  All drinks are okay today.  Basically, it’s a liquid diet for 24 hours.  If you haven’t eaten today, you’re almost half-way through the Challenge.  Count backward to your food consumption last night, and begin counting from that point.  (Folks with medical conditions that require food consumption are exempt from this Challenge.  Do something else for God today!) 

If you’re new to this, and especially if today is already busted for the Challenge, take my advice when you’re ready to try it:  Eat an early dinner.  When you wake up the next morning, you will already have a big start on the Challenge.  Then, you’ll just need to make it until the next dinnertime, which will come early the next day.

Plenty of us have done something like this before as we prepared for medical procedures, so this isn’t nearly as difficult as we might think.  However, rather than completing this to fulfill the doctor’s orders, this becomes an exercise in self-discipline to demonstrate to God that we are thankful for the food blessings that God provides on all the other days of our week.

We can do this!  Food Fast for 24-hours!  Begin as soon as you can!  

“When you practice some appetite-denying discipline to better concentrate on God, don’t make a production out of it. It might turn you into a small-time celebrity but it won’t make you a saint. If you ‘go into training’ inwardly, act normal outwardly. Shampoo and comb your hair, brush your teeth, wash your face. God doesn’t require attention-getting devices. He won’t overlook what you are doing; he’ll reward you well.”  (Matthew 6:16-18, The Message).