After Jesus was baptized in water by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit was sent to Jesus in the form of a dove and God spoke these words, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17) The gospels of Matthew, Luke and Mark then record the account of Jesus going into the wilderness to fast forty days and nights. Jesus the Son of God laid aside his divinity and went through a forty day period of fasting in his human body to seek His Father's will. It was then that the devil was defeated as Jesus responded with truth to the devil's lying temptations. The Captain of our Salvation gave us a prime example of overcoming the human fleshly desire of the temporal satisfaction of food and any other earthly desires in order to be an example of seeking God for His will in His ministry on the earth. He also exemplified the efficacy of a godly fast for defeating temptation in our lives and for receiving empowerment for service to glorify God and serve in His kingdom. (Luke 4:1-15; Matthew 3:13-4:11; Mark 1:1-15)
From the above passages we see Christ being an example in several areas of seeking God.
- He was baptized in water fulfilling the righteousness of God.
- He received His Father's approval after being baptized in water.
- He was full of the Holy Spirit.
- He was directed by and receptive to the Holy Spirit to fast in the wilderness.
- He laid aside his divinity and fasted in his humanness as the Son of Man.
- He overcame the devil's temptations in his weak body by the word of God and was ministered to by angels.
- He came back from the wilderness temptations ministering in the power of the spirit.
- He came back preaching with power the kingdom of God with repentance.
When we think of fasting, we should not think of it as something easy on the fleshly carnal man. We should not think of it as giving us an advantage to control people or gain prominence. We should enter fasting knowing there will be physical symptoms of headaches, muscle aches, appetite issues, and temptations but it is in fasting that we seek by the Lord's grace to come closer to the Father and His will in our lives. It is in fasting that we seek God himself and the things of God.
Recently I have been reading a devotion, Authentic Fasting from James Macdonald. I recommend this devotional to anyone who wants to learn more about fasting or to engage in fasting. If the link does not take you directly to the devotional reading plan link, go to You Version Bible and type in fasting in the search box at the top.
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