Why don't you fast???

[seekeroftruth]

Matthew 9:14 Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”​

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15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.​

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16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”​

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I think I heard one preacher say.... "This is the real beginning of the new church".

Back when fasting first started, God was in Heaven and man was here on earth. God wasn't man.... and man wished they could be God. Man could genuinely say to God "unless you have been human.... you don't really know what it's like to be tempted". God could suppose He knows what it feels like.... but in reality.... we can only aspire to take the place in someone else's shoes.

Jesus was God in human form. Jesus knows, through experience, what it's like to be human.

This is from an article I found on fasting.

1. Only one fast was specifically commanded in the O.T. (The Day Of Atonement)
2. But people often fasted when they wanted God to hear their prayers
   1. The purpose of the fast was to humble themselves by "afflicting their souls"
   2. Believing such humiliation would be pleasing in God's sight (and it often was)
3. However, fasting was fruitless...
   1. When it was done for the wrong reason
   2. When it was done without true repentance
4. We have also seen that there were no set principles concerning the length or nature of fasting.

John the Baptist had disciples. They preached Repentance and Fasting. They knew Jesus was going to come... but until He arrived, they had to keep the soul on high alert. John's disciples wanted the government to do a better job. John's disciples really wanted the leaders to stop the self-indulgent partying and start taking care of the people. Fasting was a way to draw attention to the ills of the public in a public setting.

We don't fast.... but we do "protest". Fasting was the protesting of the day. Protesting would draw the ire of Roman Soldiers.... fasting was a safer alternative.

There are so many diets out now.... fasting really doesn't compute in the human mind anymore. The idea of going with bacon or good pork BBQ doesn't appeal to people. People fast for all kinds of reasons today, and none seem to be a method of getting closer to God. It's just diet... it's just "look at me".

I don't fast because I am protesting.... I fast because I'm fat! I'm not fat right now... so I don't need to fast.

Why don't you fast?