A Fast To Put God First

Our church is in the middle of a 21 day Fast To Put God First in 2014. Fasting is a mostly misunderstood and often underutilized tool in our Christian journey and I wanted to share a few thoughts regarding the subject -

1. First it is not a diet because the primary goal is spiritual and not physical.
2. It is not strong-arming or manipulating God. Cut to the two year old throwing a tantrum in the Walmart checkout because he wants a candy bar.
3. It is not punishing ourselves or even sacrificing for the sake of sacrificing. You need to fast with wisdom and people with medical conditions or taking certain medications should talk with their doctor (sounds like a pharmaceutical commercial). Remember that God is not asking you to hurt yourself.
4. Fasting is a conscious choice to sacrifice something for a specific period of time in order to focus on something else.
5. It is aligning our spirit, soul and body in the right priority and choosing to put God first - see Matthew 6:33.
6. Fasting is not about bondage, it's about freedom.
7. A true fast is not just about what you don't do, it is just as much about what you do. Take a look at Isaiah 58 for more details.

If you've never fasted you really ought to try it. You might have a bunch of questions like 'What do I fast?', 'For how long?', 'When should I start?'. Why don't you just ask God? Start small, start where you are at but the most important thing is just starting. After all Jesus said "When you fast..." not if you fast (Matthew 6:16-18).

If you want more info there are some great books available and Campus Crusade for Christ has some really helpful online resources HERE.