Fasting
Barnes' Notes on the
Bible puts it this way:
“The
grief of the "soul" is so absorbing as to destroy the
natural appetites of the "body." People in deep affliction
eat little, and often pine away and fall into sickness, because the
body refuses, on account of the deep sorrow of the mind, to discharge
the functions of health. "Fasting, then, is the natural
expression of grief." It is not arbitrary; it is what every
person in sorrow naturally does. This is the foundation of its being
applied to religion as a sacred rite. It is because the soul, when
oppressed and burdened by a sense of sin, is so filled with grief
that the body refuses food. “
When
we fast, the state of the soul becomes our priority, over that of our
body and vanity.
Fasting
was common for the Jews, the Pharisees themselves fasted twice(Luke
18:12)
Serving
God shouldn't be like any other thing in our lives, it isn't just
another chore, its something God empowers and compels us to do. To
somehow take credit for it is foolish. Why else would one exaggerate
their service, but to be recognized as better than others.
Funny
enough, people still find things to boast about. Our boasting is to
be in God alone (Psalm 20:7). Our reward is to be something that only
God can give us. By seeking our reward in what people may say is to
settle for a lesser, fleeting thing.
Many of
the benefits of Christ-centered living are secrets for the specific
believer and God to share, an inside joke others don't quite
get, a peace that surpasses understanding(Philippians 4:7). God's
secret gifts do much more to refresh and encourage us than any other
can.
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