"The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.'"
Isaiah 29:13
I am reminded again today that I am not fasting to honor God with my body, my stomach, or with the act of fasting, itself. It is my heart that I am honoring God with.
These words from the Lord through the prophet Isaiah ring so loudly In my ears today. Day 5 is the day of the 'gut check'. It is easy, once you get past the proverbial wall of fasting, to feel bloated with pride. To feel unstoppable. Today the challenge will be to rebuke that pride, and to understand that if it was not for the Lord's Spirit in you, no way would you -or I!- have lasted this long through this fast. Think about it this way, if it was a 'no food' diet, wouldn't you have cheated already? I know with 100% certainty that I would have. I don't have the will power.
But, God!
I am not fasting based on some human rules, some law of religion. I am fasting for a deeper relationship with God. I am pressing in with all of the strength I have, to make God THE most important thing. More important than even eating. And I know that because my heart is in the right place, He is honored. I am not fasting for my own glory, for my testimony, or because I want something. I am fasting because He is Holy. He is Worthy. And He has given me so much that how can I not keep his laws? This is the lesson I am learning as I grow deeper and go deeper with God every day. He has blessed me so much. And He has laid out some ground rules, of sorts, in His Word, that I have been allowed the liberty in Christ to follow. So as I seek Him, He is showing me where I am not honoring Him, and giving me the grace through Jesus to begin anew and honor Him today. With more than religion, more than words, more than by fasting. Today, I am honoring Him with my heart.
--Julie--
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