Habit. First 7, Day 4.

In theory, fasting is about abstaining from food — but the truth is, doing without food is not as hard as we thought. The harder thing to shake is the habit of eating. There are just moments where our minds and bodies expect us to stop and eat. I have not really wanted to schedule as many meetings this week because I wonder, if we don’t eat, what will we do? We rely on the habit of eating to frame our lives. There have been other times when I have come home and just wondered, what do I do now? Not only are we breaking a habit, but eating is a ritual for us and stripping it away leaves us with a void. It reminds us that even the most essential things about our lives (eating, sleeping, relationships) are not greater than God. We cannot ultimately live without them, but they are not as important as we have made them. We are denying and disciplining our bodies for the apprehension of a deeper reality. While fighting the Devil, Jesus remembered, “man does not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” We are keenly aware today that we live on bread. Are you also more aware now that you also are sustained and nourished by every word that comes from the mouth of God? Every time you think to eat, try reading the words of God and see if he meets and sustains you. You should be finding that the time you had spent eating is now free for praying, reading or just slowing down. Enjoy the gift of that time and find your way back to the food that only God can provide.