My dad sent me the bulletin from his recent Ash Wednesday service and he had a good list in there of thing to consider fasting from. Not only that but an alternative is offered to replace it with. We usually think first of physical things when it comes to fasting but these involve our attudes and actions as well. The following may help you identify something in your own life that needs attention…
I call you to a holy fast – and a holy feast in each of the days of this season, a fast in which we rend our hearts and not our garments, one in which we act as ambassadors for Christ, and allow God to make his appeal through us to the world.
- Fast from worry, and feast on divine order by trusting in God.
- Fast from complaining, and feast on appreciation.
- Fast from negatives, and feast on affirmatives.
- Fast from unrelenting pressures, and feast on unceasing prayer.
- Fast from hostility, and feast on tenderness.
- Fast from bitterness, and feast on forgiveness.
- Fast from self-concern, and feast on compassion for others.
- Fast from the shadows of sorrow, and feast on the sunlight of serenity.
- Fast from idle gossip, and feast on purposeful silence.
- Fast from judging others, and feast on the Christ within them.
- Fast from emphasis on differences, and feast on the unity of life.
- Fast from apparent darkness, and feast on the reality of light.
- Fast from thoughts of illness, and feast on the healing power of God.
- Fast from words that pollute, and feast on the phrases that purify.
- Fast from discontent, and feast on gratitude.
- Fast from anger, and feast on optimism.
- Fast from personal anxiety, and feast on eternal truth.
- Fast from discouragement, and feast on hope.
- Fast from facts that depress, and feast on verities that uplift.
- Fast from lethargy, and feast on enthusiasm.
- Fast from suspicion, and feast on truth.
- Fast from thoughts that weaken, and feast on promises that inspire.
- Fast from problems that overwhelm, and feast on prayer that undergirds.