One Week Fast: Day 2

The theme for today's fast is obedience. If you ask Christians if they are being obedient to Christ, most will say they are. However, at least in America, the lives of those professing Christ have increasingly become quite like those who reject Him. Many seem to have the attitude of a toddler who no matter what his parents ask of him will respond with "But why?"

Disobedience betrays an attitude of idolatry, demonstrating a lack of love for God. Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." The disciple of Christ demonstrates love for the Lord Jesus by obeying His commandments. Keeping His commandments flows from an attitude of love, not legalism. It is not about following rules. Legalism counters the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It counters the effectiveness of prayer and fasting. It is driven by a major theological error that the more Christian-like behavior one has, the more God is pleased. Legalism shortchanges God's grace in two ways: it lowers our appreciation of God's grace but also lowers God's standard of holiness. God demands that our hearts be in the right attitude first. "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice" (1 Samuel 5:22). Obedience demonstrates love for Him and trust in who He is. The disciple of Christ cannot say he loves Him if that is not reflected in a life of obedience and submission.

Are you in bondage to sin? We are exhorted in Scripture to "lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 11:1). Sin is a snare; it is a trap. It ambushes us. Someone said, “Sin will take you farther than you ever expected to go; it will keep you longer than you ever intended to stay, and it will cost you more than you ever expected to pay.”

As Christians and as long as we are still in these fallen bodies, we will always have sin in our lives. However, we are no longer in bondage to sin. We are not helpless victims to sin. Scripture says:


The way to deal with a "sin that has ensnared you" is not to give in and say, "that's the way I am", nor to commit to never doing it again. The way to deal with sin is to walk in the Spirit, with prayer and fasting, and by "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).

Reflect on the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus "the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrew 12:2) and . . .

1. Confess any bitterness, unforgiveness, or rebellion in your heart against God and others. And pray, "Lord, I want your will to be done in my life." Remember the Lord Jesus taught to pray, "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven" (Matt 6:10).
2. Pray that the Lord will give you wisdom to forsake any sinful attitudes or sinful influences in your life that you need to abandon and remove from your life. 
3. Pray that the Lord will give you freedom from any sin that is ensnaring you.
4. Pray that He will give you victory to live a life of living for Him every day.
5. Pray that as you take control of your appetite for food, the Lord will help you to have the strength to take control of your appetite for everything else that is not from Him

I pray that you will live a life of love for the Lord reflected by obedience to Him this week.