Fasting

602 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 19:24 Now Mephibosheth the son of Saul came down to meet the king. And he had not cared for his feet, nor trimmed his mustache, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he returned in peace. We are not privy to how long David was out of Jerusalem. We don't know how long it took for Absalom to arrive at the city, and then to amass his army for the pursuit of David, and even how long it took for David to return to Jerusalem from Mahanaim. What we do know is that while he was gone. Mephibosheth was in deep mourning. He did not trim his facial hair, or wash his feet, or his clothing. I imagine he looked and smelled awful, but let us not dwell on his condition. Let us rather dwell on Mephibosheth's actions while he waited for David to return. His actions ought to cause us to think of this exchange that Jesus had with the disciples of John the Baptist in Mt 9:14,15, “Then the disciples of John came to Him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?" 15 And Jesus said to them, "Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.” This is exactly what Mephibosheth was doing, and one of the earmarks of a disciple of Jesus today. (Note the word “will”) We will fast! Will we mourn like Mephibosheth? No! We will fast! And our fasting should be done as Jesus said in Mt 6:16 "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 17 "But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 "so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Our Lord is in heaven, seated at the right hand of God the Father, but one day He will return! In the meantime we are to discipline ourselves to engage in fasting. It's funny how we are so resistant to this clear call from Jesus, especially since there is a great promise connected to proper fasting. I mean, what's not to like about God rewarding you openly?