“Cleanliness is next to godliness.”
“The devil goes to church every Sunday.”
“I’m saved, sanctified and running for my life.”
“Just name it and claim it.”
While many of these clichés can help or inspire the believer in some shape or form, the truth is that they often times are not based on scripture. Clichés tend to be a verbal expression of a humanity-endorsed form of ideology or opinion. In short, it’s cute to bring up in discussions among friends or family but ineffective when put into practice. It’s a vocal expression that attracts attention and begs to be acknowledged even though it lacks depth or power.
Is such a fast as yours what I have chose, a day for a man to humble himself with sorrow in his oul? [Is true fasting merely mechanical?] Is it only to bow down his head like a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him [ to indicte a condition of heart the he does not have]? Will you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord?
Here we see that fasting became a type of cliché for God’s people. The scripture tells us that the people fasted, not to draw closer to God, but to create strife and debate amid themselves. Much like any fad, fasting for God’s people had become the “it” thing to do. People were feigning piety and humility. They relished in self-glorifying rituals like wearing sackcloth and ashes. They tore their garments publicly to demonstrate how passionate they were about God’s precepts and desires. God’s response was simple. If you truly want to honor me in your fast, instead of renting (tearing) your outer garments, rent your soul. Instead of public displays of self-exalting rituals and traditions, lay your inward man before me that I may be glorified in and through you.
God isn’t looking for His people to develop the latest “in” thing to do. He’s not concerned with our quirky sayings or opinions. God has been and will forever continue to be concerned with the state of our heart. God wants us to put away every form of vanity, false acts of worship, arrogance and wrong motives. When the believer fasts, the purpose is to “break the power of flesh in our lives.”
Fasting is supposed to be a unique and spiritual encounter with God. It is a special consecrated time of prayer in which we come to God and invite Him to orchestrate our steps. Fasting isn’t a cliché or the latest religious fad. It is a widely embraced practiced designed to usher us into God’s presence. Hindus and Muslims have long used fasting as means to foster spiritual connection to the divine. For the believer the same holds true. Fasting with right motives is effective.