Tonight, I have my first chance to play the “hospitality card” on the fast. I’m going to a friend’s 40th birthday party, and I know that there will be many fast un-friendly foods there. I’ll plan ahead of course: I’ll eat a good dinner, I’ll take a snack for the long ride, I’ll drink lots of water. But once I’m there and the birthday cake comes out, my resolve is likely to melt.
The temptation to go off of the fast and use the justified “hospitality” card is very strong. That temptation led me to another example of fasting in the Bible – Jesus’ temptation in the desert in Luke 4. Immediately after his baptism, Jesus is driven into the desert where he fasts and prays for 40 days. This fast was a total abstinence from food. When the Temptor came to him at the end of those seven weeks without food, Jesus had to be beyond hungry. He must have been famished, weakened, gaunt. Turning a stone into a loaf of bread would have been an easy miracle and one that was totally justifiable.
In the face of such temptation, Jesus remains firm. “One does not live by bread alone,” he responds. His response to the temptation to meet his physical hunger is to point to the nourishment and sustenance that we receive when we fill ourselves with God’s Spirit – a Spirit that sometimes can only be accessed when we clear the clutter from our lives and make room for the Holy to dwell.
This Daniel Fast, what are you tempted by? How are you tempted to meet your deep spiritual hunger with food, TV, internet, or something else? This weekend, what temptation will you ask Jesus to strengthen you toward as you make a place for the Holy not only to live but to move in your heart and into our world?
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