I have fasted for up to 3 days at a time. It isn't something I like to do, so I only do it when I feel strongly called to. Usually after I have committed some sin long term and God has just brought it to my attention.
I read the article. I was really struck by this:
Quote:
Fasting reveals how severe is our bondage to food. Gluttonous Christians are a disgrace to the gospel. Fasting is a thermometer under the tongue of our appetite to measure the fever of our own gluttony. “Self-control” is a fruit of the Spirit. Self-gratification is a fruit of American advertising. O how much spiritual weakness there is due to our slavery in this area.
I probably should be fasting more. But I am so generally miserable when I do that I hate to even think about it. I will have to prayerfully consider it more. Which of course I won't want to do, since I know what conclusion I will come to when I do.
Though it doesn't specifically have to do with food issues, I did recently read a really convicting book about sins that Christians often find to be acceptable in their lives. It is
Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges.
I feel deeply for those who feel that they are saved and are not. I could say they are the hardest to reach, but all people who aren't elect are equally impossible to reach. I would say that they are the hardest to talk to. Where an atheist will happily or angrily reject God, to tell someone who thinks they are a Christian that they are rejecting God is heartwrenching, both for them and for you. I praise God that he uses Paul Washer to accomplish his purposes.
I was brought to faith by Jed Smock, a crazy full-Pelagian campus preacher. It was the first time that I had heard the message that I was sinner and needed to repent. It was years before I finally got my head screwed on straight. But he started me on the path. Hank Hannegraaf pushed it along a bit years later, and RC Sproul finally got me put together right.
I do think that fasting does change your view of food some. As does eating more naturally. I have been realizing recently that I crave things that are totally bad for me. Refusing them and replacing them with healthy things is changing how I view food as well.
If you decide to try fasting, you might want to try fasting for a meal or two and see how you do. I am pretty sure that the Jews in Biblical used to fast twice a week only eating dinner on those days. My husband jumped right in to a three day fast and had some blood sugar problems.