In a world of instant gratification, over-consumption and constant distraction , the season of Lent is more important than ever. As a society we are wrestling with the crisis of self discipline. We struggle to focus, to make time to exercise, to avoid overeating, to put down our phones. Our economic system doesn’t help – a consumer society places no value on patience and self denial.
Fasting has a high profile in the Bible, not least during Jesus 40 days in the Wilderness. It was a regular part of worship and prayer. Fasting is very simply it is refraining from something for a period of time. The standard practice is a day – from dawn to dusk.
Fasting makes space in our lives, and brings clarity and perspective. And when we strip away our comforts and our distractions that we are reminded to turn our hearts and minds to God. Spiritual disciplines are a way of subverting the demands and rewards of this world. To say I’m going to make a stand.
So this lent would you consider what God is calling you to put limits on. What are you consuming too much of and what do you need to do to place limits on that?
The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it. John Ruskin