fasting is not one of my strong suits. let's just get that out on the table. i like food. i thoroughly enjoy the consumption of carbohydrates, proteins and sugars. i take great pleasure in pacifying my palate. i have actually contemplated writing a book on food. certainly not a cookbook, as unless it goes on the bbq, i am quite sure i can make it taste bad. but a book based on the biblical model of sharing a meal. (i even have a couple of sample titles should it become a reality: 'the sacrament of the shared meal - eating together as a sacred act of worship' or 'the sacrilege of the common meal - rediscovering the lost art (heart) of eating together')
that being said there have been times in my life where i have chosen to fast. usually at some point of decision or crisis. not typically as a discipline, more as a desperate search for clarity. it has been in those times, where i have slowed down, skipped a meal or two, that i have thought more clearly and heard more deftly the nudging in my heart and soul. where i sensed god speaking to me. there is something to this sacred discipline of fasting...if not i doubt that jesus would have encouraged it.
in mark 2:18-22 jesus is challenged by the religious leaders as to why his disciples do not fast. he talks about the bridegroom being with them (we will discuss this more on sunday) and he says that when he is gone, his disciples will fast.
so as his disciples, do we fast?
it seems there is a time to feast and a time to fast?
when is your time?
peace to you,
scott
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