What do you think about fasting? In my church, we are encouraged to fast for 24 hours once a month, generally on the first Sunday of the month. I have recently been thinking about a scripture that equates fasting with rejoicing: After explaining about the the Sabbath day and the practice of fasting, it says, "Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer." Thus, fasting = rejoicing. Normally, when I think about "rejoicing" it involves feasting, not fasting. So how is fasting joyful? One answer is that, perhaps, when we fast, we realize that we are not merely physical beings. By fasting, we assert control over our bodies and remember that we are also spiritual beings, created by a loving God, with a divinely orchestrated destiny. And that is a joyful thought.
What do you think?
