Day 21 – March 28
What did Jesus 'add in' to His daily life?
Is this ‘adding in’ option just a way to take the pressure off a commitment to fast? I could be, if you want that. I don’t think Jesus used pressure to change people.
However, did Jesus ‘add things in’ to his life, alongside practices of fasting?
Jesus lived in a distinct time and in an eastern culture, rooted in the warm values of relationship, hospitality, and the honour given to religious teachers. Gathering to eat, to converse, and to learn were part of weekly, if not daily, rhythms.
I see many stories with Jesus full of the following: 1) interruptions by people who were around Jesus or were seeking him out, and 2) Jesus’ penchant for wandering off in a different direction to seek out other people.
To do the work of his Father, Jesus needed to add in a good deal of margin. Without it, how could he accommodate all the interruptions? How could He set aside time to disappear, pray, and speak with his Father? How could Jesus resist the leadership pressure to stay where He was having ‘ministry successes’ rather than make time to travel where God was directing - to new people and places?
And how could He sit down, again and again, and talk and eat with so many people?!
I resist keeping margin in my life, a sacrificial practice itself because margin allows me extra space and resources. With margin, I can make time for God, and I can respond freely to the promptings God might give. Margin is not created by fasting. Margin is created through the ruthless elimination of all kinds of external options and internal pressures.
Maybe fasting from small things is building a muscle for refining our life in greater measure. God will meet with us as we offer up ourselves in a small space, and he might have a few other things to add in that require even greater room.
What else do you see Jesus adding in throughout the gospels, and what learning do you want to take away from what you see?
Day 22 – March 29
Who or what do you think God is inviting you to make time for?
Sunday – March 30
What has changed in your life because of God's forgiveness of all your sin - past, present, and future sin?
