Going Without To Go With Him
by Rosella Shishido, Communications Ministry Coordinator
A brand-new lawyer in his brand-new office on his first day in practice sees a prospective client walk in the door. Wanting to impress, he decides he should look busy, so he picks up the phone and starts talking: “Look, Josh, about that business deal. I think I better run down to the factory and handle it personally. Yes. No. I don’t think 3 million will swing it. OK. Call you back later.” He looks up at the visitor and says, “Good morning, how may I help you?” And the prospective client says, “I don’t know. I’m just here to hook up your phone.”
The lawyer in our story is trying to impress someone who could not be impressed. The visitor saw right through the lawyer. Sometimes it’s like that way with us and God. In Psalm 50 God says:
8 I have no complaint about your sacrifices or the burnt offerings you constantly offer. 9 But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens. 10 For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. .... 14 Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. 15 Then call on Me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give Me glory.” (Psalm 50:8-10 and 14-15)
Our sacrifices get us nowhere. Unless our hearts are aligned with His. And it’s the same with fasting.
Difficult as it may be, our fasting––our willingness to give up something for the season of Lent––will be totally worth it. The motivation behind the fasting will be the game-changer. If we are intentional about being close to the Lord, we can be transformed for the better.
We go without something to remember that we go with Him.
But those sacrifices must lead to us changing for the better. Psalm 50 reminds us that God has no complaint about our “sacrifices” (which includes fasting), but it does matter to Him that they result in us being more grateful and faithful to Him (v14). Otherwise, our fasting ends up to be nothing more than an empty religious ritual.
We lose out too when our fasting doesn’t make us hungry for the Lord, and it certainly doesn’t please Him. And what would He rather have? A thankful heart, a life of obedience, and a steady trust in Him that will affect and impact those around us.
How’s your fast going so far? Good, I hope. As of today, we have four more weeks to go, and I am confident we can do this!
Prayer: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14) Please purify my motives for fasting. I want my heart to be aligned with Yours. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.
