It's good to be back for the sermon this week. We had a little snow, but it mostly just affected the grassy areas. This weekend, we are supposed to have a major snow storm with as much as 10 inches of snow. I hope that this forecast is wrong. It should be warmer. However, I can remember the year that Toby had his big operation that it snowed on the day of his surgery in mid-April.
In last week's message, we talked about the importance of prayer. Just as with giving alms, we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves in prayer. We pray to be heard by the Lord not to receive the praise of people.
Just continuing a little on the subject of prayer from last week, I'd like to encourage everyone to pray the Lord's Prayer three times each day. I talked about this last week, and I hope that some are putting this into practice. If not, I really encourage you to start as Holy Week is approaching.
Also, I encourage you to pray every day. Pray several times a day if you can. I know that I can't make it through the day without prayer. As I've said before, I don't know how people make it through the hardships of life without a relationship with Jesus.
During your prayer time, I would also urge you to make a practice of reading and studying the Bible. We talk to the Lord in prayer. One of the ways that the Lord speaks to us is through He written Word. I know that many times when I am in prayer about some issue in my life, the Holy Spirit will direct me to a verse that speaks about the issue that I am facing.
Well, we have looked at two important spiritual disciplines, giving alms and prayer. Now, we will take a look at the third spiritual discipline of fasting.
Fasting is not a spiritual discipline that is discussed very much these days. We here a lot about giving and prayer but not so much about fasting.
What is the purpose of fasting? First of all, fasting is often linked with prayer in the Bible. Jesus fasted and prayed in the wilderness. Many others in the Bible fasted and prayed as well. When we fast, we can use the time we would have used for meal preparation and eating for prayer.
Also, fasting is a means of practicing self-denial. We set aside something that is important to us in order to concentrate on the things of the Lord. When we practice self denial and self discipline in one area of our lives, it helps us to practice self denial and self discipline in other areas of our lives as well. Victory builds upon victory.
Finally, fasting is a means of helping others. One of the original purposes of practicing the discipline of fasting was to help the poor. The money that would be spent for food during the period of the fast could be used to buy food for those who don't have enough to eat. I think that this could be an interesting project for churches. Members could fast and pray for a period of time and then bring the money to the church. The church could then give it to those in the congregation with need. It would also be a good project to help benefit a homeless shelter in the area. Those who don't attend church for one reason or another could do this on their own. We should just keep our giving anonymous. It is not to gain praise of people, we do it as unto the Lord.
I don't know what your particular practice of fasting is, but if you don't currently practice fasting, I hope that you will attempt to incorporate it into your spiritual life. As we move into Holy Week, it would be a great time to start fasting.
One way to begin would be to fast one meal, or more, on Good Friday. During that time, remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for our salvation on the cross.
Just as with the other spiritual disciplines, Jesus instructed us not to do it to be seen by people.
The spiritual life is not a competition. We have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. We need to do what Jesus has called us to do and not compare ourselves to others.
I've heard some people compare their spiritual accomplishments with other by saying things like, "I go to church more than he does", or " I give more to the Lord than they do." All of this is between Jesus and the individual.
Jesus spoke about this in one of His post-resurrection appearances. Jesus was speaking with Peter about whether or not Peter loved Him. Jesus told Peter about the type of death Peter would die. Peter saw John walking behind them and asked Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" Jesus replied, " If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?"
We need to follow Jesus and not compare ourselves to others and judge others. We need to stop seeking the praise of people and concentrate on following the commands of Jesus and following what He has called us to do.
Following the Lord and what Jesus thinks is important and leaving behind what the world values and thinks is important will be the major theme of Jesus' teaching in the remainder of chapter 6.
Fasting usually has to do with abstaining from food and/or drink. However, fasting also has the spiritual meaning of abstaining from those things the world values that do not accomplish the will of the Lord in our lives and in the world. We will get into this more the next time that we study the Sermon on the Mount.
Next week, I am going to step away from the Sermon on the Mount for one week and concentrate on the events of Good Friday and Easter. We resume our study of the Sermon on the Mount the following week.
Next Wednesday, Lord willing, I will post another chapter of my book about Toby. I've posted seven or eight chapter already. I hope that you will read them. May the Lord bless you . Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment