“I have just got to have that,” we convince ourselves. For
some, it is food. Are you convinced that missing a meal will ruin your life?
Others must have a schedule packed with activities. Do you believe that a
day without ‘something to do,’ is unbearable? We can love all kinds of
stuff – cell phones, fine clothes, cars, houses, vacations, sex, drink – in a
way that makes them our idols. Worship is defined as ‘assigning
worth, giving value, adoration’ and by that definition many of us worship the
things we own. The Scripture says that those who are worshippers of
this nature have a strange god; "their god is their belly!"
(Philippians 3:19) In others words, they have traded devotion to Almighty Lord
for the satisfaction of some earthly appetite. Richard Foster writes, "Any
life lived on the order of the body alone will end in emptiness. We simply
cannot sustain meaning when the only measure of life is endless
experience." (Longing For God, IVP, 2009)
A great dinner is to be enjoyed. Caring for our appearance
is part of healthy self-esteem. God created us with the capacity to experience
pleasure and so we should! A life of deprivation, poverty, or pain does
not make one more noble or more authentically spiritual! But,
we need to learn a practice well-known in the Scripture and nearly unknown
among Christians today – fasting. Don’t stop reading now! Fasting
is not just about food. It is not just a discipline for wild-eyes fanatics.
Fasting is a discipline for all Christians. Its purpose is to break our
devotion to lesser gods. Fasting may be abstaining from food and it can (and
should) involve many other appetites. We can fast by limiting access to
technology for a time, or not watching TV, or refusing to buy things for a
season, for example.
Even contemplating a fast can send us into a funk. “How can
I survive a day without eating?” we wonder. “Turn off my cell phone for a
week? I just couldn’t.” we say. Ah, but we can, and we should – for the
right reason. If we hope to impress God about how ‘good’ we can be our fast
is nearly useless. If we want others to admire our depth of discipline when we
fast, we are just being foolish and have an issue with pride that needs to be
conquered. If we want to convince ourselves that we are better than those
ordinary Christians who do not fast, our understanding is faulty. If we
think that by fasting we can make God do something for us that we really want
Him to do, we are misguided. He does not respond to hunger strikes!
A fast is a way to re-adjust our perspective, to reorder
our hearts, and to regain our first love. Nothing more. It’s just an
exercise. Done for that reason, fasting can help us grow in Christ.
Disciple, our focus is higher than this body! We are to love God - with
all our mind, heart, and strength. In this, we find life to the full which He
promised. We understand that the body is perishing and we do not despair
because of that fact. We feed, clothe, and care for our body as the 'temple of
the Spirit,' which it is, but we refuse to make it our god.
Consider the wisdom in this passage. "For many walk,
(live their daily lives) of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even
weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is
destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame- who
set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which
we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform
our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the
working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself."
(Philippians 3:18-21, NKJV)
Are you worshipping your stomach? Do you define 'the good
life' by food, comfort, or appearance? If so, break that idol! "Set
your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your
life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:2-3, NKJV) Practice
the discipline of fasting (not just food!) to allow the love of God to
flourish. Cultivate the inner beauty of a clean and righteous heart that cannot
be taken away by the passing of time.
Those who serve the belly god become enslaved by the search
for more and more exotic experiences to sate the senses. Lust and gluttony
corrupt every part of their lives, shape every interaction, and ultimately
their god is wrenched from their grasp by age and death. Those who serve the
Savior are led to life, know joy, and take mastery over their body and
appetites even as they take hold of eternal life, right here, right now!
Here’s a word from the Word. Let the Spirit speak.
Paul, deeply devoted to the Lord, a man of unquestioned maturity, acknowledges
that failure stalks us all. Here’s his counsel. "Remember
that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. You also must
run in such a way that you will win. All athletes practice strict self-control.
They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal
prize. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I am not like
a boxer who misses his punches. I discipline my body like an athlete, training
it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I
myself might be disqualified." (1 Corinthians 9:24-27, NLT)
_______
Here I Am To Worship
Light of the world,
You stepped down into darkness,
Opened my eyes, let me see-
Beauty that made
This heart adore You,
Hope of a life spent with You.
So, here I am to worship.
Here I am to bow down.
Here I am to say that
You're my God!
You're altogether lovely,
Altogether worthy,
Altogether wonderful to me.
Tim Hughes, 2000 ThankYou Music
CCLI License 810005
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