(This article was written by John Thweatt, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Pell City, AL)
Years ago I felt God calling me to an extended fast. The experience was inexpressible for many reasons and since that time I have fasted on a number of occasions. I can look back to each fast and see how God taught me and moved me toward Him, but there is one common denominator that I’ve found with every single fast.
Fasting demonstrates to me my own selfishness. If we are completely honest we will have to admit that we are often so consumed with our own desires that we cannot see our own self-centeredness. Some may be less self-centered than others, but we all tend to have a bad case of the Globe-Head.
Being Globe-Headed means you live as if the world revolves around you. Fasting takes place when you give up an otherwise normal activity for the purpose of seeking God. You can fast from TV, you can fast from Internet, you can fast from a particular type of food, or you can fast from food altogether, but the fast should be from something you enjoy. For example I hate brussel sprouts…it isn’t a fast for me to give them up…I live an eternal fast from brussel sprouts, but I do love Diet Cokes, Coke Zero, and Diet DP, football, and Starburst Jelly Beans! It would cost me something to give them up for a period of time if I would pray and seek God every time I wanted one that would be a biblical fast.
So, as we fast we become aware of how much we do to please ourselves. Our schedules, our eating, our recreation, and even our church attendance are often driven by our desire to be pleased. How much of our lives center around pleasing God? What I have found is that you’ll never find a Globe-Headed person who is truly happy, but when you find a person who centers their life upon pleasing God you will find someone who has true joy. Some of the most joyful people I’ve ever met happen to have the least in terms of material possessions. It isn’t that being poor makes them happy—it is that they aren’t cursed with a number of gadgets to distract their relationship with God.
Try to go a day without Twitter, Facebook, E-mail, or your phone. Try spending your lunch hour reading the Bible and praying and asking Him to make you as hungry for Him as you are for food. Try giving up golf or tennis or TV for a day and spend time with your wife or children. Give up something you personally like to help you learn to love as you are supposed to love. When you begin to give up personal preferences you will find your flesh rebels and when it breaks out in an all out World War you’ll see just how Globe-Headed you really are.
