Yesterday I addressed the subject of fasting. I know when I was a kid I couldn’t understand why they called it a fast, because it sure seemed to go slow. When I was young, if our church “called for” a fast, our family usually participated. Doctors generally tell people to be really careful with a fast, because every body is different and they never would want you to be harmed you in any way. So my suggestion to you during this 40 days before Easter is to practice saying no to your appetite every once in a while. Let’s say you really want a bowl of ice cream. You can picture how good it will look in the bowl, and even how smooth it will feel going down your throat. You feel like you really want it. That may be a great time to say no to your flesh, and yes to an apple or an orange. Most of the time we say yes to our every food desire, but this time, why not eat a piece of fruit? It is better for you, and would be just as good for filling you up. Maybe you could even say, “I don’t need anything right now, because I can say no to my flesh”. We don’t do that all the time, because we need good, healthy food, in fact, we all know that we can’t live without food. One easy way to condition ourselves to make these actions a common practice, is to just stop eating before you are over full every time. We don’t have to let food have a hold on us. Food is fuel, and meant to energize us and be a blessing. Enjoy what you eat, but stop before you are full. Maybe during Lent, you can begin to make healthier choices about what you put in your body. It will be good for your spirit, and great for your body!
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