By Earl Neff

I remember my first experience of committing to fasting from solid food for three days. It was over 20 yrs ago and as a church, we were experiencing some serious spiritual warfare and internal church leadership transition. As a construction worker, I knew that fasting solid food for three days would be a serious challenge for me. I remember my first day leaving the house without my lunch box, I panicked. For three days, I only drank chocolate milk and water. Wow! I didn’t realize I was addicted to food.

My logic was that “we need food to live, right? So, how can it be wrong to crave food to survive?” But the words of Jesus, “Man shall not live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God( Mat 4:4),” became much clearer. God had also spoken these same words in Deut.8:3 where he gave them bread from heaven in the wilderness. When Jesus was tempted by the devil after fasting for 40 days, scripture says he was hungry(Matt 5:2). I can’t imagine that! The devil tempted him to use his power to turn stones into bread. How tempting and how easy it would have been to fill his stomach instantly. Yet, Jesus stayed focused on conquering the cravings of the flesh to do the will of God and as he resisted, the devil left him and angels ministered to him. At this moment we see Jesus choosing a different kind of bread, as he said in John 4:34 “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

Fasting for me has been a very hard discipline and makes me realize how my stomach and body cravings can easily overpower doing the will of God. God knows we need daily bread to sustain these bodies, but our greatest need is Jesus, who is The Bread Of Life( John 6:35), and his words of life ( John 6:88) to keep us from sin and to keep us focused on the kingdom of Heaven. Fasting is a way to reset physical cravings, to bring them into submission to the greater need for Jesus’s words of life.

As we see conflict in our society increasing, may the words of Jesus “I am the bread of life, and man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” lead us to desire the real spiritual food God gives to sustain us and empower our church to grow in love and be victorious for Christ.

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