THURSDAY DECEMBER 30, 2010

Read Ezra 8

Other Issues To Consider

Don’t be afraid to be honest.

In studying fasting, we can be easily confused or somewhat apprehensive. If we were to be truly honest, we might say something like, ‘It bothers me that there is no command to fast in the NT. It is assumed and mentioned in background texts only’.  Or we might have to admit that our fasts in the past have achieved very little.

While we may never have fasted in the past, we need to be honest and we need to bring our concerns humbly before the Lord.

Context.

Closely related to this is the concept of honesty is the issue of context. As you read the various texts about a topic you must read each of those verses in the context of the larger chapter, then the larger book, then the testament and then the whole Bible. Any text without a context is a pretext to say whatever you want.

Eg: 2 Sam 12:22 David says, ‘While the child was alive I fasted and wept. I thought, Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’… Without context I could argue that you need to fast when someone you love is ill and if you fast well enough then God may be gracious to you and heal the sick one.

Contextually, the child was ill because David committed adultery. It was punishment for his sin.  David was fasting out of repentance and was told that the child would die 2 Sam 12:14. David’s house, as a consequence of his sin, would be bound with death and bloodshed.

For Consideration:-

A/. What issues do you have with fasting?

B/. What do you feel the Scripture is saying about fasting as a general picture?

Prayer:-

• Ask God to bless the singles in our congregation with a deep sense of closeness to the Lord, with deep friendships and the ability to serve and minister in powerful ways. Pray that God would meet all the needs of the singles so that they can focus on Him and serve Him wholeheartedly.


• Pray that God would bind us all together with strong cords of love and unity. Pray that our commitment to Christ would allow us to love and serve each other, to forgive when necessary and to walk patiently with each other.

When we fast we are stating with our entire being that man does not live by bread alone.