Lent is a time of reflection upon the suffering of Jesus leading up to and including the cross. During these six weeks we fast as a small way to share in his suffering. This is the first time I have participated in the fast in the last 2 years. Rather then be draining or consuming like I feared, it has been the opposite, filling and empowering.
Here are some of my lenton fast reflections.
1. Shows how weak I am. It is amazing how grumpy going without those small daily comforts can make me
2. Has helped me breaks bad habits for filling needs with stuff. Or feeding our passions. I can distract myself from feeding on the word of God, Jesus, by eating or drinking or reading or watching a show… I end up entertaining my spirit to death.
3. Gives a sense of anticipation for what I do not have but know will come. How I look forward to the Sunday feast day is a small shadow of how I can anticipate the fulfillment of Gods Kingdom
4. It makes me thankful for even the small things. We often don’t notice things until they are gone and we miss them.
5. I have found that I can let go of other small things that I have come to rely on rather than God.
6. The small victories give me strength for larger challenges. If I can go all week without something I am used to having on a daily basis then maybe I can tackle those larger issues in my life.
Rather than filling myself with physical things, Lent has served to remind me that Jesus is the bread of life, and I should be filling myself with Him.
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:35-40, 45, 53-58 NIV)