It's a beautiful experience, one that I am excited to partake in for the first time this year.
As I've researched Lent through varying avenues I've realized that it's more than merely giving up a small compartment of one's life, and perhaps this is true of all fasts, that it should be not about a mere giving up of something but rather it should be an in-depth process of depending on the Lord.
A process in which one prays fervently, confesses regularly, repents cheerfully, and receives freedom openly.
A process in which one practices self-discipline (a trait that many if not all of us could improve upon, me being the first).
A process in which one denies oneself and carries one's cross, all for the sake of what was accomplished on the cross.
All for the sake of love.
If you're interested in learning more about Lent and the process of fasting leading up to the joyful culmination of the resurrection, check out this post by Richard Beck, these lovely words by Sarah Bessey, and this message of Easter preparation from Fabs Harford.
If you've decided to partake in Lent this year, what is your motivation behind doing so? I love the following words from Isaiah 58 in which the way of true fasting is revealed:
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings'.
Fasting goes infinitely deeper than merely giving up part of one's life. Fasting presents a call to spend one's life, to intentionally work one's actions in the opposite direction of the flesh.
And as one presses into the side of God as a result of self-denial, one discovers through fasting that the flesh is fickle, forcing a pure dependency on the Holy Spirit.
A believer's spiritual oxygen.
If true fasting is a call higher than giving up, ask yourself what that looks like practically. In addition to giving up, what will you do?
In addition to giving up, give to others.
In addition to denying oneself, respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Fasting isn't about merely denying one's life for one's self, but rather it is about spending one's life for the furthering of the kingdom.
Rachel Held Evans has an empowering post that encourages not only giving up but also giving back, promoting the idea of taking fasting one step further and making the most of the Lent process. She suggests ideas such as the following:
Give up eating out for 40 days and donate the money you save to The Christian Women’s Job Corp in Nashville (or another ministry).
Do a 40-day purge of all your excess stuff and donate the best of it to Goodwill or a local thrift store that benefits the needy in your community.
Try living on $2 a day for 40 days, the way millions of families around the world live every day.
Give up your favorite little luxury purchases (chocolate, iTunes, magazines, books, shoes, specialty coffee, electronic gadgets, etc.) and send the money you save to an organization that provides help to the victims of the Haitian earthquake.
Her point is that fasting is not merely about giving up; it's about giving back and intentionally spending your life to serve other people.
Which, if you think about it, is what a believer's entire life should look like. Our whole lives are a fast as the Church awaits her Savior, as the Bride awaits her Groom.
I've shared many words here about Lent, and at first I didn't intend to. I suppose the writing overtook me. I wanted to be precise (I'm really terrible at it), because I wanted to share a mere musing that God revealed to me:
We should fast like little children.
I began a series back in November about being like little children. In the introduction I explained my heart behind the series in which I wanted to explore the words of Jesus that present the concept that to experience the kingdom of God is to be like a child. It's a series that I haven't pursued quite yet for various reasons, but I've decided I'm going to be continuing it from this point forward.
Children are terrible at waiting, but excellent at depending.
Which, if I understand it correctly, is the point of fasting at all.
A child will trust, a child will receive openly. If you were to offer a five-year old a chocolate chip cookie, he or she would take it willingly, because the child knows that the cookie is good.
Gooey, melty, chocolately goodness.
If we could only see the kingdom as such, if we could only taste and see that the Lord is good, then perhaps we would receive His kingdom and all that it encompasses willingly, hands and hearts wide open. As we lift our hands and hearts up, the Spirit rains down. As our gaze turns upward, His divine grace comes down. If we could only put aside the worldly longings of the flesh and look past our cultures and consumeristic demandings and see people through the eyes of Jesus, then I believe we would enter into some sort of empowering kingdom experience.
It's ironic: we think we love so much in this world. We love this, we love that. We have to own that new movie coming out and loudly proclaim our devotion to bands, celebrities, people, places, and things.
I personally love sushi.
Or do I? It's quite tasty, yes. I enjoy it the likes of which not much can compare.
Then there is Jesus, in which I find my true satisfaction. My heart longs for Him, my soul yearns for His grace. My life, after encountering God and the story of the Gospel, cannot turn from His ways, His presentation of a servant exemplified in His life, death, burial, and resurrection.
True love is this: that Jesus laid down His life.
And I can't even give up social media, spending money, or much else without my flesh rising up within me stirring hard, or at least that's how it seems until I call upon His name, allowing my soul to rest in His embrace. Which is good. Which is beautiful. Which is stronger and sweeter and more beautiful than any offer the world could make.
If we saw fasting this way, as some sort of rich, full, chocolate-chip-kingdom-of-God experience, then I believe heaven would collide with earth.
Our lives would be enriched as, through sweet surrender, the Spirit would use us to touch the lives of others.
As we fast together, as we wait for King Jesus.
As we usher His kingdom of love to earth.
And His love is far sweeter than cookies.
As we set aside begrudged attitudes and willingly embrace these next few weeks, we begin a process of growing down, and in receiving the kingdom with open arms like little children, we find that we actually begin to grow up into a person in the likeness of Jesus.
I encourage you to walk through what is often referred to as a 'Holy Time', because in doing so you may find out the deep longings of the heart.
At first, it may be a challenge. Along the way, you may struggle or be tempted. You may start out yearning to tweet that witty thought, update your Facebook status, or drop a few dollars at the nearest coffee shop.
Your fickle flesh may long for the world.
Then the Spirit within you will yearn for Jesus.
