Glutton-Free: Cultivating a Theology of Enough
Part 12: Missing the Bridegroom
The Bible provides examples of people fasting for victory, for guidance, in repentance, in obedience, for deliverance, and for discernment. Yet the most profound reason in Scripture for fasting is intimacy with God. I am indebted to Donald Miller in Blue Like Jazz for sharing his insight into Matthew 9:14-15:
“One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, “Why don’t your disciples fast like we do and the Pharisees do?” Jesus replied, “Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”
Miller points out Jesus’ disciples did not need to fast because he was still with them. But now that he is not physically present “We fast because we mourn the absence of Jesus Christ.”
I can think of no greater motivation for fasting than a desire to be with Jesus.
Dr. John Piper echoes Miller’s insight saying, “The absence of fasting is the measure of our contentment with the absence of Christ" (Pg 93). His book, A Hunger for God, is a goldmine of inspiration for fasting: "The birthplace of Christian fasting is homesickness for God” (Pg 13).
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