If you joined us on Christmas Eve a couple of days ago, thanks for coming — what a wonderful time that was! And we hope your worship and celebration continued yesterday on Christmas Day and will continue this whole week.
Whether you are celebrating the gift of Jesus quietly at home, traveling to see family, or hosting a shindig at your place this week, I want to help you take a moment to think ahead to 2025. I don't want to interrupt too much what is taking place in your life right now. (As the famous missionary-turned-martyr, Jim Elliot, said, "Wherever you are, be all there!") But I also want you to gain as much as possible in your spiritual growth as we turn the calendar to 2025 in a few days.
So let's take just a moment to think into next week and the New Year.
In the Scriptures, we see various times when God commanded His people to feast. Whether it was for Passover, a celebration of the Law being restored, or some other occasion, God invited His followers to enjoy the bounty He provided and celebrate what He'd done for them through the cheer of food and drink.
At the same time, we see instructions in Scripture about fasting. There were times when it was appropriate for God's people to seek Him by setting aside food for a period of time. Whether it was to confess personal or corporate sin, to ask God to work specifically, or just to draw closer to God, fasting was a tool used to shape the hearts of His people.
Right now, as you have celebrated and continue to celebrate the coming of Christ at Christmas, it is a time of feasting. May the wonderful food and drink you enjoy this week lead you to worship God and thank Him for all He has done.
But in a few days, we will set aside the feasting and move into fasting. If we only feasted through, we'd become fat and lazy, so to speak, ignoring the One who gave this abundance to us. Fasting is a vital tool for spiritual growth, helping us realize, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4, ESV)
To help us better understand Jesus' words from Matthew 4:4, our theme for the 21 Days of Prayer in 2025 is Cherish: 21 Days of Loving God through His Word. We'll allow God to use Psalm 119 to help us appreciate His Word so we might better understand His love, His plans, His character, and His gospel.
So enjoy this week of feasting! Worship Christ, the Bread of Life, through the bounty of food on your table and the spiritual food of God's Word and His Spirit.
But begin to ask God to show you what it is you need to give up from January 1 through 21 to gain greater clarity of Him. I strongly encourage you to include some sort of fasting from food during the 21 Days (one meal a day, one day each week, one specific type of food, etc.), but to also consider what else you might need to give up (TV, social media, an addiction, video games, YouTube, etc.) so you might better cherish the Lord and His gospel. Let’s do this to dedicate ourselves to God in the New Year!
Each day during the 21 Days of Prayer (including in our Sunday Worship Gatherings), we will be looking at a portion of Psalm 119. But here on the blog, we'll consider the topic of fasting in greater depth to encourage you to maintain your fast through the entire 21 Days.
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