Episode 584

TODAY’S READING

16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:16-18

I love this first because it ties in perfectly to the verse we read on Tuesday, which was praying in secret. And so, there is a correlation and power behind the idea that what we do in secret is important to God because he sees what’s been secret. We think we can broom us underneath the rug and that it won’t be seen. But the truth is that God sees everything. He sees our hearts. He knows where our minds are. He knows what our intentions are. He knows what our motives are. And if we are not pure of heart, he knows that he sees that. And our the what we yield, the harvest that we yield is not great. It’s probably really rotten food at the end of it. It may look shiny, but when you eat it, it’s not a blessing. 

To you or the people around you. So how do we continue to reap great harvests? Well, we need to sow a good seed. And how do we do that? We need to check our actions, and we need to check our actions; we need to check the actions that we do behind closed doors. What we do in secret holds so much power. So like this verse says, fasting is a powerful and beautiful tool that we have; fasting is the ability to deny pleasure and go through hours of hunger or days of hunger in order to seek more clarity when we talk to God. And sometimes we can fast, not just food. We can fast social media. We can fast different TV shows we can pass different types of music. You can fast what it is that has a stronghold over your life. So you can disregard that and put your trust and craving in the Lord. And when you do that, don’t do it to flaunt, don’t do it to say, oh, I’m fasting because I need clarity, and XYZ do it because you’re having a private conversation with the Lord and they you’re asking for clarity and wisdom in your life. You don’t need to involve in further details when you do such things. So remember that everything that you do is secret when you pray in secret when you pass, and secret when you act in secret. 

People may not see it, but the fruit in your life will show it, and the relationship that you have with Jesus will wait. And so, if there’s anything that I can tell you today, may check your actions when you are alone, may check your motives, may check your heart, may check where your thoughts are, and may you always align them back to what the Word of God.

Prayer:

Father God Lord, we love you. And we thank you for this beautiful Thursday that we asked for the strength when we fast to keep it between you and me between the person on the other side of this mic and you, Lord, our relationship with you is all that we need in this life. And may we continue to check our actions, our motives, our thoughts, and our humility. May we always be humble people, people that you call us to be We thank you for the blessings in our lives. We thank you for the roof over our heads, the food in our belly, and the ability to have a relationship with you. We pray this all in your son’s mighty name. Amen.