There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Luke 16:19-20a
You know how sometimes you read a familiar scripture in a new light? When our congregation resumed a modified version of Bible classes during the 2020 COVID-19 scare, one Sunday morning it happened to fall to me to teach a children’s class on the rich man and Lazarus from Luke 16. When I read the part about the rich man who “fared sumptuously every day,” (v. 19) I realized for the first time that this describes me.
Also in 2020, I started hearing about intermittent fasting as a dietary lifestyle. New research was coming out indicating that there are a lot of health benefits to shrinking the “window” of time for eating each day. The lengthening of our fast past the typical eight hours of sleep at night gives the body more opportunity to rest and repair. At the same time I also had some Facebook friends talking about fasting for spiritual purposes. I had done a handful of 24-hour spiritual fasts occasionally through the years and found it to be rewarding but difficult. It certainly wasn’t anything I felt I could do on a regular basis.
Nor did I think I could switch to intermittent fasting when I first heard about it. My immediate reaction was that I could not do it because I get sick to my stomach if I don’t eat breakfast. But I received some encouragement to give it a chance by cutting back gradually. So I went liquids only for breakfast, and then I started waiting longer before breaking my fast, and I kept cutting back until I was only drinking water or unsweetened tea until early afternoon. I was doing it! Intermittent fasting.
But I was doing it for health reasons. At the same time I was reading and thinking about spiritual fasting. Was it possible to fast from food for both physical and spiritual purposes?
That’s when, with these things on my mind, I started seeing certain scriptures differently.
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” John 4:34
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance. Isaiah 55:2
On top of that, our church had a study that year on the spiritual disciplines which included a few lessons on fasting. Why did God keep putting this idea before me?
And then I read somewhere two things that I could not shake. One was the suggestion of doing a spiritual fast leading up to the Thanksgiving feast. The second was the account of a man who had fasted one day a week every week for two years. I had been doing intermittent fasting for a few months at this point. I decided to try fasting once a week for one year starting the day before Thanksgiving.
Since March 2022 I’ve been writing a book based on the Bible studies that came out of that experience. That book, at long last, is ready to be published.
But it’s not just a book on fasting. The book is called Dining with the Master because what started out as an interest in fasting developed into something much broader and deeper. Not everyone practices fasting, but we all have to eat. Sometimes we “fare sumptuously,” but sometimes we may feel like Lazarus, like life is giving us nothing but crumbs (Luke 16:20). We all know what it is “to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need,” (Philippians 4:12). We all have seasons of feasting and of famine, so to speak.
So I hope you’ll stay tuned in the coming weeks as I share some excerpts from the book and more thoughts on what scripture has to say about fasting, famine, and feasting. You may be surprised at how much the Bible has to say about these topics, and by how much learning about them can bless you as you “walk worthy of the Lord,” (Colossians 1:10).
by Christie Cole Atkins
Most loving heavenly Father, we thank You for the many things You show us when we aren’t even looking; the blessings You have for us that we don’t even know we need. May we learn to draw near to You in every situation whether good or bad. Have mercy on us as we navigate the challenges of physical life and give us eyes to see all things from a spiritual perspective. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
P.S. I now have an author page at Amazon! Let me know what you think.
Related Reading: On Living And Dying