They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And although I do wonder about it sometimes I also realize that God’s grace is sufficient, even for my ridiculously unstable spiritual life. Speaking of good intentions, lately I have been constantly dreaming about how much closer to God I could be, if I really wanted to. I don’t say this to insinuate that I have the direct ability to be used by God but I do believe everyone of us is in control of the choices we make. If we truly want to be sold out followers of Christ then there are some personal changes I believe we could implement to help the process. When referring to the practice of spiritual disciplines Richard Foster claims that, “The Disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that he can transform us.” He goes on to paint a vivid but challenging picture in his classic book Celebration of Discipline of the spiritual journey that passionate Christ followers are on:
Picture a long, narrow ridge with a sheer drop-off on either side. The chasm to the right is the way of moral bankruptcy through human strivings for righteousness. Historically this has been called the heresy of moralism. The chasm to the left is moral bankruptcy through the absence of human strivings. This has been called the heresy of antinomianism. On the ridge there is a path, the Disciplines of the spiritual life. This path leads to the inner transformation and healing for which we seek. We must never veer of to the right or the left, but stay on the path. The path is fraught with severe difficulties, but also with incredible joys. As we travel on this path, the blessing of God will come upon us and reconstruct us into the image of Jesus Christ. We must always remember that the path does not produce the change; it only places us where the change can occur. This is the path of disciplined grace.
What is even better to me is the fact that we are not meant to be on this journey by ourselves. So I wanted to share an idea that my brother came up with for a 40-day fast. Although fasting was common enough in the 1st Century world that the the New Testament writers didn’t feel the need to explain how it was done, today it is a severely underrated discipline. The one Danny came up with is not easy, but neither is picking up the cross daily to follow Him!
- Days 1-5 — no eating after 6pm
- Days 6-10 — no eating after 5pm (begin limiting your high sugar intake…junk food, soft drinks, etc.)
- Day 11-15 — no eating after 5pm, no high sugars
- Days 16-20 — no eating after 5pm, no high sugars (begin limiting your carbs)
- Days 21-25 — no eating after 5pm, no high sugars, no carbs (limit your fast food meals)
- Days 26-30 — no eating after 5pm, no high sugars, no carbs (ONLY SOUPS FOR MEALS)
- Days 31-35 — “Daniel’s fast”…fruits and vegetables only (no eating after 5pm)
- Days 36-40 — nothing but water…but you can drink after 5pm!!
To add to this spiritual journey, try to give 10% of your day to studying and memorizing scripture, journaling, and praying.
IF YOU HAVE DONE SOMETHING LIKE THIS BEFORE AND/OR TRY THIS 40-DAY FAST I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR COMMENTS ABOUT HOW YOU FELT GOING THROUGH IT AND HOW DIFFERENT YOU WERE WHEN YOU COMPLETED IT!
Filed under: discipleship, faith, leadership, ministry Tagged: | faith, fasting, richard foster
I was just reading from Foster’s book, Celebration of Discipline, when I went to the computer to see if I could find a visual image of what he writing about. I’ve fallen off the “right” side of this chasm…and now, I’m just now learning how to stay on the path. Thanks for your illustration.