After High School I attended Auburn University for 2 years. During that time I participated in the tradition of rolling the trees at Toomer’s Corner. It is an event no college student would ever forget and a lasting tradition at the school. However, you probably know that a couple of years ago, a rival fan exposed the trees to a chemical which poisoned their root systems and have jeopardized the health of the trees.
As I was reading in Colossians 2:6-7, I was reminded of the trees on the edge of Auburn’s campus. The Scripture tells us that as we have received Christ, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith. The image which Paul used in this passage reminds me of what I need in order to be healthy in Jesus. I need to have the “roots” of my life embedded in him so that my life is strengthened.
Later in the chapter he continues this metaphor. He implies that we are to hold fast to Jesus, the Head, “from whom the hole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth this is from God.” During our 40 days of focus we want to experience nourishment and growth like we have never experienced before.
However, like the trees of Auburn, there is poison that impacts our health and growth in Jesus. So on e of the things we want to encourage you to do is to engage in a fast during this time. The point of the fast is to focus you upon the nourishment that comes through Jesus. If you desire to have your roots strengthened, so that your faith is more firmly established, feed on the things of God, rather than the things of the world.
We are necessarily focusing on a food fast, though this might be appropriate for some. We want to make sure that we remove any of the less than desirable influences from our attentions so that Jesus could be clearly heard as we walk in Him. This might mean shutting down your radio (for me talk radio in the car has become counterproductive to my spiritual growth). It might mean that you need to turn off texting for a day. You might find that the Lord wants you to refrain from using Facebook or some other social network that distracts you from Him. He might be calling you to fast from food because the hunger that results will remind you of your greater need to be satisfied in Him rather than the physical satisfaction of a meal.
The point is not just to refrain from something. The point of that refrain is to redirect the hunger to the things of God. John Piper wrote, “Christian fasting is a test to see what desires control us.” Would you take this challenge? Fast from something, that God might show you more of Himself and reveal a greater hunger for Him. As you take time away from that object, spend the time with the Lord so that He might have more of your attention.
Resources: A Hunger For God, by John Piper; Fasting For Spiritual Breakthrough, by Elmer Towns; The Transforming Power of Fasting and Prayer, by Bill Bright