Right Fasting

As Great Lent reaches an end and we embark on Holy Week, we must persist in our fast from sins.

The daily reading today from Isaiah 58:3-12 reminds us that the purpose of fasting is to reform our sinful ways so that we are purified and prepared to meet Christ.

It emphasizes that fasting without making changes to our evil habits is not honored by the Lord.

“Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD?”

If we merely fast from eating certain foods, what benefit is that to us? We must look to the areas of weakness in our lives and strive to improve them so that we may be found worthy of communion with the Lord.

If Christ were to come back today, would we rejoice or dread His coming?

May we continue to rightly fast and create blessed habits that will help restore our souls so that we may reap the benefits of our labors on the the day of resurrection with high spirits and gladness.