A Quick Word About Fasting (and Lent)

Lent Begins Today...But What Is Fasting For?

Lent begins today.

For millions of Christians around the world, it’s a time of fasting. But fasting is not a hunger strike. It’s not an attempt to twist God’s arm or change God’s mind or earn God’s favor.

Fasting is about making space.

It’s about emptying yourself of good things that satisfy at one level in order to fill yourself with the best thing that satisfies at the deepest level. It’s a way of reordering your desires, redirecting your appetites.

When you fast, you are saying with your body, “God, I need you more than food. God, I desire you more than any other creaturely delight.”

You’re making space to seek God.

But you’re also making space to serve others. The prophet Isaiah rebuked God’s people for fasting but ignoring the people they were oppressing. Exploitative labor and unjust practices in effect nullify the good of fasting. Because fasting is not an automatically righteous practice; it’s a practice that prepares us for righteousness.

You give up so that you can give out.

So if you’re fasting during Lent— it could coffee or social media or streaming TV or something else— may it be a way of making space.

Make space to seek God and to serve others.

This is what Lent is for.