It's Day 6 and we're in Luke 6.
Where God Spoke To Me:
- Verse 11 - It's amazing how focused we can become on our theology and miss the obvious move of God that's right in front of our face.
Help:
- Verse 2 - It didn't violate the Mosaic Law; it violated their rules derived from the Mosaic Law.
- Verses 21-22 - I think the point is not that we are to be miserable, but that need to have a hunger and desire for things that are beyond this world.
- Verses 24-26 - We need to make sure we aren't content with the petty things that this world can offer us.
If you want to read the chapter online, here's a link.
If you have a question or comment, email me at butcher@ymail.com.
Your Questions and Comments:
- "In verse 35 you state we should be fasting regularly, but almost none of us do. I know the Bible refers to fasting but why should we fast and what do we accomplish with fasting?" - Great questions. Let me share some answers from a sermon about fasting that I preached a few years ago:
- Here are some of the things that go on when we fast.
1. It makes us ask, “Am I as hungry for God as I am for food?”
- John Piper has said that many of us have no hunger for God because we are so stuffed by the world.
- Every time we feel a hunger pang and we think, “Man, I really would like to eat,” it can be a reminder to us: “Am I as hungry for God as I am for a hamburger?”
- We are in a sense giving up food in order to be able to feast on God.
- In John 4:34, Jesus said that His food was to do the will of His Father. Can we say that? Do we have that intensity of desire?
2. It reminds us that food does not sustain us; God does.
- John 6:53-59 (Body and Blood passage); Colossians 1:17 (in Him all things consist).
3. It reveals the things that control us.
- We are physical creatures and sometimes we let our physical needs have their way without any question as to whether they are appropriate or not. As we deny our body food for a period of time, it can be a time of reflection on what else we’ve just automatically given into that we should be showing more discipline in. Maybe it’s food. Maybe it’s lust. Maybe it’s gossip.
- A child might say, in getting punished for something he did, “But Dad, I couldn’t help myself.” That’s our excuse often times: “I felt the urge to do it, so I had to do it.” No, you didn’t.
- Also, although this sermon is primarily about physical fasting, it can be used in other areas as well. One example is a media fast. No TV, radio, computer, etc. for a day. If you don’t think technology has its hooks in you, try going a day without any media and see how often and how strong the pull is.
4. It makes us, perhaps for the first time in years, genuinely appreciate “our daily bread.”
- For many of us, we eat whenever we feel the slightest pang of hunger. Three meals a day plus two or three snacks. We don’t remember what’s hunger is really like.
- Fasting is useful to remind us of what hunger feels like. What it’s like to do without. Then, when we come back to eat again, it may the first time in a long time we say grace and really mean it. It may be the first time we really notice how nice our meal is in a long time.
- All of that can have the impact of increased gratitude for the everyday blessings.
5. It can be an expression of our deep desire to see something happen.
- There is merit in fasting as a regular part of our walk with Christ - perhaps doing it weekly. Down through the centuries, though, it has also been something that people have done in times of great distress or concern in order to both express their passion about this matter as well as to help focus their thoughts and desires on God.
- It may be that we are praying for our nation. It may be that we really need guidance in a particular area. It may be for healing for ourselves or someone else. It might be to see the bondage of sin broken in the life of someone who is still feeling hopeless.
- It goes along with the old saying about “We need to get serious with God if we expect Him to get serious with us.” The idea (not perfectly conveyed) there is that our desire to see Him move does make a difference in what He can do in and through us.
- Going back to Jesus’ statement that His Father rewards those who fast, this would be the most straightforward example of that: we fast about a specific need and see that need answered by His hand.
