Hey Church!

This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent on the Christian liturgical calendar. If you missed Wednesday’s service or would like a “refresher” on Pastor Sam’s message, you can check that out here: https://www.youtube.com/live/uT7SYvL6vi0?feature=shared. Also, since it is common for believers to observe a fast during Lent, please take a look at our website for more information about the what, how, and why of fasting: riovistachurch.com/lent 

I would like to share with you one additional thought on the subject, for your meditation over the weekend: 

Jesus said, “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:10-14)

One takeaway from Jesus’ parable is that a true fast is more than merely abstaining from food. Even the wicked Pharisees fast–and they are condemned! In a true fast, our spiritual hunger pangs are every bit as laborious as the physical. Just as our stomachs growl for nourishment, so our spirits cry out for more of Christ, that we may be satisfied in Him. The point of the fast is to make us more acutely aware of our dependence upon God in body and soul. Jesus uses our fasting, accompanied with prayer, to remind us: “Without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

“If we always take our fill of food and drink, we easily grow over-confident in our own abilities, acquiring a false sense of autonomy and self-sufficiency. The observance of a physical fast undermines this sinful complacency. Stripping from us the specious assurance of the Pharisee–who fasted, it is true, but not in the right spirit–Lenten abstinence gives us the saving self-dissatisfaction of the Publican (Luke 18:10-13). Such is the function of the hunger and the tiredness: to make us ‘poor in spirit,’ aware of our helplessness and of our dependence on God’s aid.”* 

We have been liberated from spiritual bondage and now pass through the barren wilderness. Lent is a time of embracing the realities of that pilgrimage. We must depend on God for our daily bread and resist the enemy, who continually calls to us, “Come! Return to your bondage where you never lacked shelter or food!” God’s wisdom says that it is better to hunger in the wilderness than to have our fill under the enemy’s tyranny (Ex. 14:12).