The surface level benefits of this fast are obvious: Better health, digestion, hydration to name a few. The deeper benefits are not quite as obvious...a cleansing of the soul, perhaps? Ultimately, God knit us together (Psalm 139: 13) and knows us inside and out. He knows how to find these deep places in our souls that need to be addressed, and if we come to Him, He will do the work with us.
I typically do this kind of work with Jesus on my yoga mat. In the yoga world, there is a saying, "Where there is no effort, there is no benefit." Some of my practices are beautiful. Everything feels right. Everything works. I feel energetic and strong. Some of my practices are awful and ugly. I get nasty. I snap. My hips don't work with me. I can't get into poses. I quit (no effort, no benefit). Consequently, those are the days I should just continue on and "do the work" with my God. Either way, God does what He came to do. If I know one thing about God, I have learned that what He begins...He finishes~on OR off the mat! And, no offense to the yoga community, but I subscribe to the idea that grace (no effort) entirely benefits me! It is lavished on me! How could I possibly give enough effort to deserve LIFE when my defect condition is sin? When it comes to grace, the effort is null. The benefit? SO extravagant! The work I do with Jesus on my mat is a work of the Spirit, and always ends in grace.
In the yoga world, there are certain "spiritual observances," one of them being "Saucha," or "purity." Yogis would suggest that eating a vegan diet, practicing good hygiene, practicing your asanas (what we know to be "yoga"), and breath work, to name a few, will result in purifying the mind, body and soul. Although the yogic paths to "purity" are alternative to the path to purity that Jesus provides, the idea of becoming pure is something we share in common. See, God wants us to love Himself with all our "heart, mind, soul and strength." He purifies us. He enters in to the picture, does the work with us, and we come out "on the other side" purified.
There's no "fake it 'til we make it" here. The purification process must be done, and the reshaping can be painful. Jesus greatly condemned people who put on a facade, pretending to be pure, but who were corroded on the inside in Matthew Chapter 23. His rebuke was harsh:
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." Matthew 23: 23-28.
OUCH.
GUILTY.
We consider the way we should act or the way we should look, and we "clean up" accordingly with no lack of effort on our part! We "clean up" the outside of the cup, patting ourselves on the back, but forget to let Jesus "do the dirty work" within the deep recesses within our souls. We, like whitewashed tombs, put on our plastic smiles and go about our day, meeting anyone who asks us how we are doing with a "FINE" and a smile, when inside, we are "full of dead men's bones and everything unclean." When will we surrender? When will we allow Him FULL access to those places? What are we waiting for? I know that revisiting the painful times and hurting places with the promise of grace and healing on the other side sounds like a horrible plan, but if we are to be fully purified...fully restored, we must.
1 Samuel 16: 7 says, "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." We are not talking about the physical heart and whether or not it has arterial blockages, friends! The LORD looks into the deep spaces of the heart~the soul. He begins the work there. And, because I know my God, I can say with confidence, that He will also finish thew work there...in the recesses.
See, ONLY Jesus can reach those deep recesses to release what is holding us captive. Only Jesus can bring my dry bones back to life. No fast. No clean eating. No exercise. No yoga. Only Jesus. Maybe He will choose to use a fast as a means to "do the work" with you. Maybe He will "meet you on your mat" as He meets me on mine in my yoga practice to "hash things out." Ultimately, it's simple. Jesus cleans the cup. He is the dishwasher AND the detergent. He is the whitewasher. He is the paint AND the paintbrush. WE are the cups and the tombs, and we benefit from His supernatural healing. We benefit from "hashing it out" with Him and allowing the Holy Spirit access to those deep spaces, the spaces where only grace fits.
Grace and Peace~
Kelly
Amen to that!
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