The Gift vs. The Giver

Saturday, March 6th, 2010 | Lent Meditations

More than any other discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us. -Richard Foster

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. -Romans 1:25

Yesterday we talked about experiencing fasting as “hunger for God” in which we discover that God alone is enough for us. Yet another way fasting helps us grow closer to God is by showing us what things rule us. Often we are so used to the various influences in our lives that we don’t even notice what controls us.

In A Hunger For God, John Piper writes:
What are we slaves to? What are we most hungry for—food or God? Fasting is God’s testing ground—and healing ground. Will we murmur as the Israelites murmured in the absence of bread? For Jesus the question was: Would he leave the path of sacrificial obedience and turn stones into bread? Or would he “live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”? Fasting is a way of revealing to ourselves and confessing to our God what is in our hearts. Where do we find our deepest satisfaction—in God or in his gifts?

God is the Creator of all things, the great Giver who provides us with everything we need. James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” Yet when we fast, the way we react to the raw hunger we experience often reveals to us that we are more interested in the gift than the Giver—God doesn’t “change like shifiting shadows,” but we certainly do!

Fasting reveals and concentrates our desires. It shows what is under the surface, displaying to us who we really are. It’s like the hot water poured on a tea bag. If you want to know if the tea is good or not, smelling the bag is not enough. You have to pour on the water and wait. Once we know, we can seek meaningful change.

Tags: Lent 2010