Fasting Encouragement Day Six

It’s day six and the first week of our corporate fast is quickly coming to a close! I don’t know about you but as great as this week has been, I have found myself on a few occasions needing to refocus. I am a lover of routine, but also a fairly adaptable person. Give me a moment to process the initial shock that accompanies change and I can quickly re-assess, make adjustments and carry on. Though this can be an incredibly helpful trait, it is unfortunately counter-productive when fasting.

I have felt Holy Spirit nudging me several times this week to remember why I am fasting, and to keep it before me. I realized I have grown strangely accustomed to my “new routine” and am no longer feeling the same aches and pains I did at the start of the fast. Maybe you’re feeling the same way. Perhaps, you started with passion and anticipation, but as the fast goes on it’s lost it’s luster and now feels like you’re “going through the motions”. As I read through today’s passage, I felt like there were some interesting parallels between this feeling of “going through the motions” and where the Jews seem to be at spiritually.

We pick up in chapter 9 with Paul grieving over Israel. The reason for his anguish is found in verse 6 where he states:
“not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children.”

He continues in verses 30-32:
“Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with
God. And it was by faith that this took place. But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path.”

Do you feel like you’re “trying so hard to get it right with God by keeping the law”? Are you going through the motions of fasting out of corporate obligation? Maybe your relationship with the Lord has felt like this lately. What used to be a life giving and vibrant relationship has been reduced to the routine of church on Sundays, keeping good morals, and participating in the odd event here and there. If this is the case, know that you are not alone. In my experience, if we are not intentional about stretching our faith and strengthening our trust in the Lord, we can easily fall into religious rhythm. We slowly start to lose sight of the presence of the Lord in our day to day lives, and the way He once moved in our lives becomes history. This seems to be the same for Israel in this chapter.

Paul reminds the reader of the Jews beautiful heritage as God’s chosen people in verses 4 &5:
“Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised!”

Despite all these amazing things, Paul's spirit is distressed because not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly God’s people. Somehow, along the way, the Jews have lost their faith and trust in God. What were once life-changing encounters and revelations have become history and no longer hold the same luster. Even worse, they’ve been reduced to rules and obligations.

Although most of us technically fall under the category of Gentiles, I believe Paul’s appeal is an important reminder to those of us who have known Jesus for some time. I never want to get so used to my relationship with the Lord that I get caught up in the motions of religion and lose sight of trust and faith. The same is true of this fast. I don’t want to lose sight of my purpose and fasting and complete it for completion's sake.

If that resonates with you, I invite you to take a moment to respond. Recall why God invited you into this fast. Are you hoping to increase your sensitivity to His presence, grow your spiritual capacity, or see a greater release of His manifest glory and power in your life? Or perhaps you need to spend some time meditating on your history with the Lord. What words has He spoken to you, miracles has He done, circumstances has He changed, relationships has He brought into your life that were once transformational but have now become part of your normal?