Why Fast?
We either pamper our bodies or punish it. There seems to be a constant struggle between who’s in control of whom. Do we control our body or our body controls us? According to 1 Corinthians 9:27, “But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” (ESV) Like the apostle Paul, we are to discipline our bodies. Someone wrote,
If your body makes all the decisions and gives all the orders, and if you obey, the physical can effectively destroy every other dimension of your personality. Your emotional life will be blunted and your spiritual life will be stifled and ultimately will become anemic. [1]
Susana Wesley, the mother of the founder of Methodism, also wrote, “Whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind - that thing is sin to you.” [2] We are to control our body and not the other way around.
But in their sincere attempt to control their bodies, many religious people have resorted to unbiblical ways such as castration or cutting themselves up, like what penitents do during Holy Week here in the Philippines. The Bible prohibits such acts.
You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires. (Colossians 2:20-23, New Living Translation. Emphasis added.)
For example, even if we chemically castrate a sexual offender, that won’t curb his pervert desires. The problem is the heart and the body is just its vehicle to express its desires. We don’t control our bodies with “severe bodily discipline” for it will not conquer our evil desires.
Fasting is a Biblical way of disciplining our body and keeping it under control. That’s why fasting is called “the discipline of denial.” As Japanese-Canadian Pastor Ken Shigematsu wrote in his “God In My Everything,”
Having a set of deliberate practices also allows us to to build on our strengths and shore up areas of weakness. If we are experiencing a failure of self-control, we might deliberately practice fasting. Fasting can help us develop the spiritual “muscle” of self-control. [3]
Fasting deals with the heart as well as with the body. It goes to the root of hunger. It deals with our desires. To paraphrase the words of Wesley, fasting increases the strength and authority of your mind (that is, the heart) over your body.
Brothers and sisters, let us discipline our bodies. Let us fast.
Image credit: http://nassagaweya.com/
[1] Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1978, 1986, 2003). iBooks edition.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ken Shigetmatsu, God In My Everything: How An Ancient Rhythm Helps Busy People Enjoy God (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013), 24-25. Emphasis added.
