A Follower's Thoughts - Correll Pritchard
/Fasting and Self-Denial
Fasting and Self-Denial sometimes go hand and hand. Think about that for a moment. When you fast, you deny your body of nutrition, right? In Matthew 4, starting in verse one, it says, "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterward, he was famished." Imagine not eating nor drinking anything for that long! That had to be an ordeal! On top of that, guess what happened next? Here comes Satan trying to tempt him. Verse three says, "the tempter came and said to him, if you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." Just let that sink into your thought process for a moment. Imagine not eating for that long and then being tempted with food! Just think about it. Isn't that the way Satan works anyway? He catches us at our most vulnerable moments then he tries to leap on us. Guess what? The best answer to Satan's temptations comes in verse four. Jesus answers him by saying, "It is written, one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." There is the answer and the only answer that will fight off the temptations of the devil. The word of God!
There are times when fasting and self-denial do not go hand in hand. After all, self-denial does not always center around what's for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It could be a lust for more money, more power, more worldly possessions; the lists can go on and on. The choice is ours to make. Listen to God or listen to the devil. Understanding God's truth or being led by the devil's lies.
As I go through this Lenten Season, I will be practicing fasting and self-denial. But most of all, I will be digging into the word of God. James 4:7 says it clearly, "Submit yourselves, then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." My Lenten plans are to submit myself to God. So that when Satan's temptations come my way, I will be able to deny myself, pick up my cross, and follow Jesus, not only in these 40 days of Lent but 365 days every year.