#Jesus22 - Daily DevotionalsSample

Have you ever secluded yourself for seven days? For me, this staying outside the tent does not only stand for a spatial seclusion. Seven days of renouncing social company, entertainment, consumption, food, sexuality, something you are convinced you need: this is called fasting.

Fasting is a mystery to me. For a long time, I misunderstood a lot of things. Isn't it just a religious compulsion? Do we have to fast to get God on our side? Is He more likely to grant our requests if we support them with fasting? Are we additionally rewarded because it is part of a healthy diet?

In Leviticus 14:8, I stumbled over the timing of the fast. It says first that the person should wash and take care of himself/herself. Obviously, that is important and right, because after that, it says, the person is clean. So, the actual request is fulfilled. Only, after that, this person is to withdraw for seven days. That's when another aspect of fasting comes to the foreground: fasting afterwards, as an expression of gratitude. Not to make God do something. Not to consider renouncing something as a kind of anticipated punishment, to be rewarded by God afterwards. God has already taken action.

This reminds me of another passage in the Bible: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
It is already fulfilled. It is no longer a matter of getting God to do something, but rather of being thankful for what God has done. As I thought about this, I was struck by this particular form of fasting as a withdrawal from social life. It is different from abstaining from food. Do we perhaps need this retreat from distraction, from communication, from our daily work and habit, to realize what good God has done?

ACTION STEP

Find a place to retreat where you are alone with yourself and God today. Use this private time with God to thank Him. Think about whether it might be a good idea to fast something, so you are able to retreat more often.