Last night after dinner as a family we read Zechariah chapter 7, when delegates inquired of the LORD concerning their traditional fast during the fifth and seventh months. This prolonged period of mourning and fasting had not been commanded by God but was a self-imposed observance. Zechariah 7:4-6 revealed God's answer to the prophet: "Then
the word of the LORD of hosts came
to me, saying, 5 "Say to all the
people of the land, and to the priests: 'When you fasted and mourned in the
fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast
for Me--for Me? 6 When you eat and
when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves?" God's answer provided amazing insight: if we do not eat and drink unto the LORD, can we really say we fast for Him?
The concepts of sacrifice, self-denial, and abstaining from activities in which people find pleasure are common components of religious observances across the world. It is like paying dues for membership or to gain status as devout. The typical approach of the flesh is to deny ourselves in one area, and justify indulgence in another. If asked I am sure the Jews would have asserted they were fasting for the LORD during the fifth and seventh months, but because they lived for themselves during the other ten months - contrary to plain commands of God He had given them - their fasting really wasn't for Him at all. They fasted to feel like they were doing something for God, making a huge commitment and sacrifice, when they could have been joyfully feasting as they did what God commanded.
God commanded His people to fast and to feast - with the major emphasis on the three major feasts of the year. Whether we feast or fast, we are to do it as unto the LORD. Whilst we live we live unto the LORD, and when we die we do so for His glory. If we eat, we do it in thankfulness to our God; if we fast we do so in faith, knowing God is food and drink for our souls. Paul wrote in Colossians 3:22-24, "Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. 23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ." Praise the LORD that whether we fast or feast, we can do so with God's blessing and bountiful reward for obedience.
The concepts of sacrifice, self-denial, and abstaining from activities in which people find pleasure are common components of religious observances across the world. It is like paying dues for membership or to gain status as devout. The typical approach of the flesh is to deny ourselves in one area, and justify indulgence in another. If asked I am sure the Jews would have asserted they were fasting for the LORD during the fifth and seventh months, but because they lived for themselves during the other ten months - contrary to plain commands of God He had given them - their fasting really wasn't for Him at all. They fasted to feel like they were doing something for God, making a huge commitment and sacrifice, when they could have been joyfully feasting as they did what God commanded.
God commanded His people to fast and to feast - with the major emphasis on the three major feasts of the year. Whether we feast or fast, we are to do it as unto the LORD. Whilst we live we live unto the LORD, and when we die we do so for His glory. If we eat, we do it in thankfulness to our God; if we fast we do so in faith, knowing God is food and drink for our souls. Paul wrote in Colossians 3:22-24, "Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. 23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ." Praise the LORD that whether we fast or feast, we can do so with God's blessing and bountiful reward for obedience.
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