This is what I wrote on day 9… Reading over this again encourages me a lot.
40 Day Fast: Day 9
I have been physically feeling a little better than I had a few days ago. Although, today, I do have a headache and my neck aches. I think aching is normal though. I sent some of the morning online researching the health aspects of fasting.
Before I was wrestling with really wanting a cheeseburger and wanting to quit the fast because I was getting angry and slightly depressed. Emotionally I was just off. But now the accusation to quit is based on health reasons. I am at a point where I am okay only having juices or smoothies for about 30 more days. But I am beginning to hear the question in my mind as to whether this fast will mess up my body or not.
Other people have done it before who are less healthy than I am. I am a 21 year old athletically built male who rarely gets sick. If anybody could fast it would seem like it would be me. But at the same time, just because others have done it before does not mean that it is okay to do. Some Christian folks I know of who would be all for this sometimes lean to the aesthetic side of Christian spirituality. Certain ministry websites say it is perfectly healthy while they do caution you to seek medical advice.
General health sources I have stumbled upon on the internets say it is good if done right, but it is also risky if done wrong. Some who I have told about this say that they don’t think I should fast. I will continue to listen to them, but until I find a good enough reason not to, whether it be medically or spiritually or whatever, I will continue. Continue with watchful analysis that is.
While the spiritual life can tend to get complicated in the mind, God’s word makes it simple.
Matthew 4:4: But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4 NKJV)
As I think about all of this I come back to the root of why I am here at this place in my life, and it is because I need Jesus. While I have obeyed the growlings of my stomach my whole life, the hunger pains of my Spirit have been neglected far too much. This isn’t a fast for the sake of abstaining from food. This is a fast because things are not okay right now. This is because I desperately need Jesus in my life.
