The Daniel (Not So) Fast

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

Matthew 15:8

It’s January; the beginning of a new year full of possibilities and hope. It’s January which means that like years’ past our family (at least the big people) are participating in the Daniel Fast with our church. Even though we’ve done this before, each year it feels like a new thing – at least in the beginning. But then it gets old, really quickly. This year’s fast is no different. We’re forsaking meats, fried foods, sweets and all things carb for the duration of 21 days. Twenty-one days, seems doable right? Well, with prayer and God all things are possible. So, it seems. As I write this, we are at the half-way point. Hallelujah!  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The fast has been a time of reflection, self-thought and limitation – all things that can help with self-preservation in a fast-paced world that thrives on excess. But as I move into the final stretch, I am concerned. You see, I feel like something is missing from my fast. Something, that I haven’t been able to put my finger on until now.

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” This verse from Matthew 15:8 came to me one day on its own. But it was definitely the result of divine intervention.  And it spoke plainly to me saying ‘Sharron you need to do more, much more.’ This past December (like so many others) I approached the month looking forward to January. Quite simply January has become my cleansing period. All of the things I did in excess (read food I ate) during the holiday season can be wiped clean by January. It’s cathartic, it’s refreshing and it’s a habit.

A habit is what Google Dictionary defines as ‘a settled or regular tendency or practice’. Settled… is what the fast has become for me. Settled because it’s something I do based on the time of the year, tradition and peer (albeit positive) pressure. Settled — because I feel like I am going through the motions. I entered the fast with high hopes and expectations. But somewhere along the way, it’s turned into something more legalistic than anything else. It became more about the food and what I couldn’t have than about praying and watching God’s hand move in my life. The habit of fasting becomes about as mundane as the habit of brushing my teeth. I do it at about the same time every day with not much thought.

So what do I do with this habit? How do I make the fast more about God and less about food? How do I keep it from just being that thing that I do every January with my church? God is asking me to do more, to make it about more. And now, I am seeking God to answer the question, how?

Perhaps that was His plan all along.

#Danielfast #habits #fasting #Matthew #honor