Fasting is something I have had little interest in for my whole christian life. I just dont really get it, to me it seems a bit like ascetism, or trying to twist Gods arm, and there is a bit of christian mythology that surrounds it too. Anyway, a few events came together for me to consider that perhaps there is more to it than I previously considered. However that is a story for another day.
To cut a long story short, i decided to try it, without deciding too heavily on the duration. After a web search and advice from a friend, i decided to drink water and juice but no food or softdrink.
My experience - what i learnt 1st time
- Correct motivation is needed, or a mixture of appropriate motivations. Mine were curiosity, a desire to seek God and to learn more about it by experience.
- It is not as difficult as i thought it would be
- I decided to fast for 2 days over the weekend so I would have time for prayer and thinking (meditation)
- I learnt how much i liked food, and foing withoutnhas made me more thankful for the food that I eat.
- The biggest thing i learned is how much Jesus uses the metaphors of food and drink. Suddenly i noticed this everywhere - the bread of life, spring of living water, blessed is he who hungers and thirsts... And so on. It made me realise how hungry we need to be for God. Knowing physical hunger has made me more aware of how hungry I should be for God. He should be the food and drink that I crave after every day.
- I have decided to try fasting every weekend for a while to continue my "experiment".
No comments:
Post a Comment