What God’s Word Says About Food Sýnishorn

Hold up your index and middle fingers. Now place them on your wrist. Got a pulse? Then you’ve got a pride problem. We all do. Because our nature is broken by sin, our pride is ever proclaiming that life is all about us, not about the One who made us. This pride problem wiggles its way into every corner of our lives, even into our spiritual disciplines.

Pride convinces us we’re superior if we embrace regular rhythms of fasting. A master at comparison, pride nudges us to notice all of the other Christ followers who don’t. Pride gives us imaginations of a cosmic sticker chart in heaven, where our commitment to deprivation earns us gold stars with the Lord.

As we seek to understand what God’s Word teaches about fasting and feasting, Isaiah 58:1-12 is as elementary as our ABCs. Notice verse 2, “They seek me day after day and delight to know my ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not abandon the justice of their God. They ask for righteous judgements; they delight in the nearness of God.”

Sounds like a full sticker chart to me! Except it wasn’t. The children of Israel were fasting with wrong motives. Skipping meals doesn’t permit us to skip out on living lives set apart by the commandments of God.

As I studied this passage, I scribbled the characteristics of a fast God doesn’t like:

• We do as we please on the day of our fast (v. 3).
• We oppress our workers (v. 3)
• And fast with contention, strife, and raised fists (v. 4).

As I read these words, pride tells me I’m doing okay. I can’t remember a time I punched someone’s lights out during a fast. (Though to be honest, when my blood sugar crashes, I am often tempted to.)

And then I made a list of the fast God accepts. It’s a longer list because it is much harder to achieve. An acceptable fast means we:

• Deny ourselves (v. 5)
• Take a posture of humility, acknowledging our need (v.5)
• Lament over our sin (v. 5)
• Break the chains of wickedness (v. 6)
• Set the oppressed free (v. 6)
• Share our bread with the hungry (v. 7)
• Bring the homeless into our homes (v. 7)
• Clothe our naked neighbor (v. 7)
• Be attentive to our family (v. 7)
• Get rid of the finger pointing (v. 9).
• Speak life-giving words to those within earshot (v. 9).

If my pride is an inflated balloon, God’s Word is a needle. Pop! Suddenly I see that I’ve never fasted like this. In fact, I cannot offer the fast the Lord accepts without the Spirit’s help.

Food is never mentioned in this foundational fasting passage because fasting isn’t about food, it’s about faithfulness. Fasting is an opportunity to celebrate God’s faithfulness to us and His commitment to fully transform us. Fasting is just one way we can express our commitment to live like He calls us to live.

There are no sticker charts in heaven, just sinners redeemed by grace. The gospel is the antidote we desperately need to push back against the poison of pride. What happens when we offer Christ our hearts instead of our food habits?

Thank you for reading this plan.

Learn more about Erin Davis' new book, Fasting & Feasting: 40 Devotions to Satisfy the Hungry Heart.