Today is the first day of Lent. Lent reflects on Jesus’s forty days, where he fasted. Because this topic is so seldom mentioned, let me share a bit about it.

Fasting is sacrificial. It is giving up something of value for something of greater value. Technically in Scripture fasting always referred to going without food for a certain period of time. Fasting, by extension, can refer to giving up certain foods, specific comforts, or oft-used technology.

Kinds of Fasting

Normal: abstaining from food, solid or liquid, but not from water (Jesus in Luke 4)
Partial: restriction of diet but not total abstention (Daniel)
Absolute: abstaining from food and water (Esther, Paul’s conversion)
Corporate: public (Day of Atonement); people in sorrow and affliction over their sins; times of distress (2 Chronicles 20:1-4)

Why Fast?

Fasting reveals what controls us. (Psalm 69:10)
Fasting reveals what sustains us. (Matthew 4:4)
Fasting reveals what balances us. (1 Corinthians 6:12, 1 Corinthians 9:27, Psalm 35:13)

Where to Begin

Unless the Lord tells you (and you consult with a doctor) I’m not advocating a 40-day fast. Here are the questions to ask yourself if you’re trying to figure out what to give up.

1. What controls me?
2. What do I think I have to have to sustain me?
3. What do I feel is necessary that may not be necessary in my life.

Justin Earley writes, “Fasting is a way to resist the original sin of trying to eat our way to happiness and to force ourselves to look to God for our fullness.”

Some ideas (some that I’ve heard from you!) for what you may need to fast from. Social media. Chocolate. Sugar. Shopping. A hobby. What can you shut down for the next forty days that could open the windows of heaven?