Soul Devotional - November 14, 2014

I have been going through the devotional book Spiritual Classics, edited by Richard Foster and Emilie Griffin over the past few months.  Throughout this devotion book, there are a number of different contributors that focus on various spiritual disciplines that Christians should practice within their lives.  The one that stood out to me was a devotion on fasting by Catherine Marshall (pg. 57).  Her devotion on fasting got me to thinking in a different path than what I usually think of when it comes to that particular discipline.  When most Christian hear the word “fasting”, they think of food.  Fasting food has the ability to loosen things in the heavenly realm and allow us to see God’s hand move in an amazing way.  What if we think out of the box for a minute.  What if thinking of fasting in a bigger term?  Marshall challenges us to not only fast food, but also fast from the things that may prevent us from hearing God’s voice (pg. 60).  Her example to this was that she fasted from criticalness (pg. 59).  What would happen, if we as Christians fasted from the things that drew us away from God?  How would we be changed?  How would the world around us be changed?   This can be a small thing…like TV, Netflix, or even Facebook.  What would happen if these distractions were fasted from and we took that time to focus on the things that were close to God’s heart?  I would hazard a guess that we would be different people and that the world would take notice of that change.  Let’s all take up the challenge and fast from those things that draw us away from hearing the voice of God and begin to seek and pray for the best that God has for us, individually and as a community.

Spiritual Classics: Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups on the Twelve Spiritual Disciplines. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2000.
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Shawna Lavender
Children's Ministry Director | Soul Sanctuary