After a surprisingly overfull week, I (Wes) sit writing this on Saturday morning knowing I want to write something to you. Next to me is my (now) daily bowl of oatmeal for breakfast with the luxury of blueberries to sweeten the meal. I keep pausing in my writing so I can eat what is in front of me...to get the sweet spot of just exactly the right temperature with every bite before it cools off.
I like to eat and I like to be full. That is why fasting doesn't make sense to me at first. Why would a person deny themselves something that is so necessary? Why would someone like me risk the chance of being empty and (I admit it) hangry by abstaining from food?
We live in a "follow all of your desires" world. To abstain from anything we might want seems strange to most. In the search for the most abundant type of life, we tend to consume to find fulfillment, devouring whatever food or entertainment is easily accessible. We long to be full, but can't seem to feed ourselves enough to escape our emptiness.
Our first thought when we think of "fasting" is being empty, but Jesus fasted to be filled. Talking to his disciples as they returned to him after getting his food, Jesus didn't grasp desperately for what they brought him, but he told them that he had "food that they didn't know about." What is this food? What is this fullness?
Fasting is not about merely choosing to be empty but to be more full of what really fills us. Oatmeal is filling for a couple of hours, but we were made for more.
Let's celebrate together that our God is a God who emptied himself so that we can enjoy him who is to us like a soul feast of the richest foods.