As alluded to in a previous post, I picked up a book of fasting. Have you ever had a spiritual discipline that you just didn't understand Biblically? That you know there is value but you haven't bought in enough to participate? That is what fasting is for me. Fasting to me is one of the most vague and bizarre of the disciplines, from what others have experienced, yet one of the most powerful.
So I picked up this book so that I could have a Biblical framework to answer the why and then fast with pure motives and intent.
In the introduction, Piper starts with "the birthplace for Christian fasting is homesickness for God." We fast because we long to be at home with God it's our own hunger for God.
"The greatest enemy for the hunger of God is not poison but the apple pie. The greatest adversary for the love of God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of the earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable."
The things that take away our desire for God are the gifts of God. "They are your basic meat and potatoes and coffee and gardening and reading and decorating and traveling and investing and TV-watching and Internet-surfing and shopping and exercising and collecting and talking. And all of them can become DEADLY substitutes for God."
He makes the point that fasting isn't really only specific to food, but anything that substitutes our desire for God.
He then asked the question how does fasting keep us from turning gifts into gods?
He then reminds us of the story in the Old Testament where God asks Abraham to sacrifice Issac on the altar. The age-old question is why would God ask this of Abraham. Piper points out that there are times in our lives that we need to prove our preference and love for God through literal and outward acts of obedience. To prove to ourselves that we really do choose God. Piper states, "God wills to know the actual, lived-out reality of our preference for him over all things. And he wills that we have the testimony of our own authenticity through acts of actual preference of God over his gifts.
I think that this book will be a healthy study for me and I am excited to dispel the mystery of fasting. I am excited about gaining knowledge of this new discipline and hopefully grow in the practice of it in my life.
1 comment:
I think of this as Life Improvement.... at the core of my GodShape is "strive for excellence"... an ongoing process for my life. Thanks for posting this!
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