Today is Mardi Gras, which literally means Fat Tuesday. Unfortunately for our modern society, this can conjure up visions of sinful behaviors and wild, gluttonous partying without thought of what comes next. The truth is that Mardi Gras is the day before Ash Wednesday, so in the times when people did a strict fast during Lent, they would empty the house of all those foods they would be fasting from for the next forty days: dairy, eggs, syrup, sugar, oil and meat. It is really just common sense for you certainly don't want things sitting around ruining- and tempting you- while you are cleaning your spiritual house- so you clean out your pantries beforehand. Traditionally as well, most people did this as a process over time- not as a big blowout glutonous party, but nevertheless by Ash Wednesday- those foods were gone.
So here we sit- on Mardi Gras- and tomorrow begins the season of Lent. So what will we do? Have you thought about it? And what's the fasting and penance for anyway? I will say that it is worth spending some time thinking about today- and getting your family to think about. What will you give up? And why bother?
Well, you don't have to get very far in the Bible to learn how important it is to God for you to give from your heart! The story of Cain and Abel is a perfect example! What was the difference between their gifts to God? Abel gave his best and most prized possession, and Cain did not. This made a difference. Why would this make a difference when God needs nothing? It makes a difference not because of what God needs, but because of what we need. We need to give our full hearts to God. We need to not have the attachments of the world.
Sadly, too, many of these attachments are not an end in themselves. God is light. Picture a street-light in the dark of the night. Each step you take away from the light brings you into deeper darkness. When you continue down this dark path, eventually you no longer see the light at all and your everyday life decisions are those of one who is in darkness and away from God's will! So- how does fasting help?
Well, when you fast, you are turning yourself around. You should take the time to look into your life and see something that has become a great attachment in your life. Do you watch too much television? Do you drink too much alcohol? Do you use curse words? Do you yell too much? Do you sleep too much? Do you hold on to your possessions too much? Do you look at pornography? Do you spend too much time on the computer? Do you eat too much? Do you spend too much time on Facebook? Do you spend too much money on yourself? What is your beast? What has you in it's clutches? This is a time of grace! Use it accordingly! If you need help- seek help! Pick your greatest attachment and give it to God! Turn around, face the light, and move in the direction of God! Starve your beast, and it will flee! And the beauty of it is that you are the winner!
See, this is how God works! Isn't it great! You just THINK you are giving something up! Yes- you are- but in return, God gives you SO much more back! People tend to think of God's ways as being restrictive, but it is the exact opposite! The things that the world sells imprison and enslave us, and it never ends. Just look at the addictions in the world and it does not take long to see the costs: ill health, diseases, doctor bills, etc. They drag us further and further down the path to darkness. When we spend this time to look into our hearts and see the truth in our lives and give the first fruits of our passions to our Lord, and He blesses us exponentially.
Why is this? Well, Galatians 5: 16-18 tells us:
"I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh. For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other so that you may not do what you want."
So fasting is a kind of Spiritual workout! When you deny the flesh of those things that are not good for it, you work out and strengthen the spirit. Just sit for awhile and imagine if EVERYONE did this!
Another beauty of fasting is that it not only benefits us! We forget how intertwined we are! Just imagine how many people were affected by the sin of Adam and Eve, and then just think how it could appear that their sin was a small one. After all, they did not kill anyone! It did not hurt anyone. It did not even "seem" to hurt them. What did they do wrong? They disobeyed God. And that simple act of disobedience goes on and on and on.
Dwell for a moment on the sins of today. I shutter at the thought. We tend to think that our sins are only "our sins". It does not work that way, though! Our sins affect others- ALWAYS- even if they are in the private of our own home! That's just the way it is! We also tend to dismiss our sins as............not being sins! Why? Because we are surrounded by darkness. The world tells us that we are not sinning, and we believe the world. Why? Because it "APPEARS" to be easier to believe the world! Sadly, however, this is a lie. You can just watch the television know this. Right now the slippery slope of bad behaviors is greatly tilted, and the climb back to the light seems sooooo difficult! The thing is that, just as the people of Nineveh proclaimed a fast and kept their WHOLE city from being destroyed, we can do the same!
So, today is Fat Tuesday! Use it wisely! My family will be having purple, green, and gold pancakes tonight which are all originally intended to represent Christ bringing justice (purple), faith (green=growth of faith), and power (gold=Jesus is the King of Kings and ultimately holds all power). We will talk about those in the Bible who fasted for 40 days: Moses, the people of Nineveh, and JESUS! And we will each spend some time in prayer to make our commitment to God regarding our fast. I have had the children thinking about this for awhile for although they are not bound to the laws of fasting yet, it is an exercise of their faith that will help them to grow, and yes- they will choose something to fast from for the next 40 days! Why? Because it will help their spirits to grow strong and enable them to be stronger and more able to overcome the temptations that the world is throwing at them and so they might be a part of what turns this world around to where it needs to be- facing our Loving God- and climbing that path toward the light! So tomorrow- don't forget to begin starving your beast and join us on our climb to the light of Christ!
