When You Fast: Moving Beyond Ritual to a Heart for God
We often hear that the Christian life should lead to being "healthy, wealthy, and wise." Many suggest that if we aren’t experiencing those things, we simply lack faith. Yet, when we look at the Sermon on the Mount , Jesus gives us a very different picture. He speaks of a life that is blessed not through worldly abundance, but through being poor in spirit, mourning, and being persecuted for righteousness. It is a life of paradox . One of the most misunderstood parts of this lifestyle is the practice of fasting. The Expectation: "When," Not "If" In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches on three core pillars of Christian devotion: giving, praying, and fasting. Interestingly, He doesn't say " if you fast." He says, "When you fast." Just as Jesus expects His followers to give to the poor and talk to the Father in prayer, He takes it for granted that we will also practice self-deni...