You Gonna Eat That?

A comment from one of my children came to mind yesterday. 

Child: I’m starving Dad.

Me: Then why didn’t you eat your lunch?

Child: I wasn’t hungry then!

Me: Well dinner is in a little while…

Child: But I am STARVING NOW! Why can’t we stop at the gas station and get something to eat.

Me: Well you should have ate when it was time. You hardly ate anything that your Mom made for you.

I recall this in a jovial manner because yesterday I was trying oh so hard to fast. Why? Because its one of the areas that I stink at when it comes to loving God, and I want to become closer to God. Some may not think that this makes no sense but for me the reasoning is two fold. First, for me hunger (and I mean true hunger) is not something I have had to deal with in a very long time. I live a very fortunate life. I am by no means rich but my wife does very well making sure that I don’t go hungry. When I become hungry now my senses get all out of whack. Its hard for me to focus. I become very irritable. If I can learn to rely on God in these times then when true crisis hits I will be all the stronger and will be able to resist even stronger temptations. Secondly I am thankful. I believe that Jesus was the Son of God. This is no blind thought. I have spent many years doubting and after following all threads I keep coming back to this belief. I have read the story of Jesus’s crucifixion many times but when I finally saw the movie “The Passion of the Christ” it really hit home what he went through for me. I am thankful. If he could go through all of that for me and you then I think I can handle going without  cheeseburgers on Fridays for a while and forgo stuffing my face at every single meal. I will admit that its tougher than I thought. It eludes me how much of a consumption culture I live in. Everything I see seems to tell me to eat, drink and buy more. So flashback to yesterday I was full in the pains of “STARVING!” and got some upsetting news. One of my sons got in trouble at school. It was nothing major but unsettleing nonetheless cause I know how good a kid he is. As I drove to pick him up after his detention I thought of how mad I was. I was very cold and very tired from work and on top of that I was “STARVING!” All I wanted to do was drive home, warm up, eat dinner and goto bed. So what did I do? I prayed, I asked God for understanding, peace and love. Normally I will admit under these circumstances I would be furious and there would be some sort of punishment for such a mistake, but instead. I picked him up and let it go. We went home and we calmly spoke of how to handle the situation next time. Maybe in some small way I leveled up with God. So I don’t fast for me. I fast for God and to be closer with him. Maybe once in a while I get a benefit from it, no actually I DO get a benefit from it. I have God more closely in my life, and that is the greatest gift of all.

Matthew 9:14-15

14Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?" 15And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.