GROWING THROUGH LENT – FASTING
(This Lent, my daughter Allison Lynn and I are co-blogging! You can find our posts every Monday at my Blog and Allison’s Blog. Visit, comment, share, and most importantly, feel free to join us in the journey.)
“What
are you GIVING UP for Lent?”
and
“What
are you TAKING UP for Lent?”
When it comes to FASTING, these two questions “go
together like a horse and carriage.”
Fasting can last for a short or long time, and should be
directed to improve your relationship with yourself, other
people or God. Most people think of fasting
from food, but your fast could be from anything that might be a distraction for
you, such as alcohol, television, negative thoughts, unwanted behaviours, smoking,
arguing, swearing, or even gossip.
Jesus also offered this advice when fasting – “Put on a
happy face” – OK, that is not his exact words, but he did say, “When you fast, don’t make yourselves look sad like the
hypocrites. They put a look of suffering on their faces so that people will see
they are fasting. The truth is, that’s all the reward they will get. So when
you fast, wash your face and make yourself look nice. Then no one will know you
are fasting, except God, who is with you even in private. God can see what is
done in private, and will reward you.” (Matthew 6:16-19)
But to “give up” without “taking up” could put you in a
worse state than when you started.
Jesus warned his followers about the dangers of giving up
something without replacing it with something positive. He relates this little known incident called “The Danger of
Emptiness” -- “When an evil spirit comes out of
someone, it travels through dry places, looking for a place to rest. But it
finds no place to rest. So it says, ‘I will go back to the home I left.’ When
it comes back, it finds that home all neat and clean. Then the evil spirit goes
out and brings back seven other spirits more evil than itself. They all go and
live there, and that person has even more trouble than before.” (Luke
11:24-26)
So, this means when one gives up something like junk
food, the time, energy and money freed up should be replaced doing something
else, such as volunteering at a shelter or a community meal, or contributing
money to a needy cause. Or if one decides to give up thinking evil thoughts,
then these should be replaced by better, more positive thoughts and so on. Get
the idea?
This Lenten season, we encourage you to both give up and
take up something. Feel free to leave your experience in the comments section.
(This Lent, my daughter Allison Lynn and I are co-blogging! You can
find our posts every Monday at my Blog and Allison’s Blog. Visit, comment,
share, and most importantly, feel free to join us in the journey.)
