Circuit Rider Letter - April 2010

Throughout Lent we looked at walking in the Footsteps of Jesus.  We saw things that Jesus did and we studied and learned the many things Jesus taught.  One of the hoped for outcomes of learning about Jesus is that we would desire to be in a personal relationship with Him.  It is not just knowing about the things that Jesus did that brings us to a relationship with Him, but learning to live and love as He did.

In my midweek Bible Study we learned about fasting.  Fasting is one of the most misunderstood and least utilized spiritual disciplines.  Jesus said, "when you fast..." (Matthew 6:17)  It was assumed that the followers of Jesus would fast.  If that is true, why do we hear nothing about fasting, today?  One of the reasons may be because it is a very personal discipline that Jesus himself tells us not to do for recognition.  But that may just be an excuse because many people who are seeking to grow in a closer relationship with God know very little about or even practice fasting in their own personal life.

Fasting is not a legalized discipline.  It is something personal that each individual believer should practice. John Fasting legalized something Wesley talked about the means of grace.  They are the things that you and I can do in response to God's love for us through Jesus Christ.  He talked about how we can grow through prayer, communication with God; studying the Bible - hearing, reading, studying; receiving the Lord's Supper - remembering the sacrifice and compassion of Jesus; Christian community - fellowshipping with one another; and fasting.  Of those five, fasting, is the least practiced discipline in many Christian communities.

Fasting is a way to seek God's will.  Throughout history people have pursued God through idols, sacrifices, obedience to laws, living, in monasteries, even trying to build a tower up into heaven. In Micah 6:8 it says we are to "do love mercy, and walk humbly with our God."  That is the desire and goal of being a follower of Jesus.  Humility, putting others ahead of our own needs is a mark of seeking God's will.

According to Isaiah 58, when the worshippers were seeking Lord in the wrong ways, God, through the prophet Isaiah, told them what was an acceptable way to fast and pray.  The purpose of fasting was to change the way I chang had social and interpersonal impact.  In other words, it affects relationships within the body of believers as well as in the community outside.

Take a moment and read Isaiah 58:1-8 and see if you can learn something about what God desires from us.  How can you grow from a better understanding of this discipline?  How can the practice of fasting bring about a fasting bring change in your behavior?  How can it benefit the body of Christ?  How can fasting be practiced in your life?

See you in Worship,

Pastor John