There has been a lot of interest lately regarding the health benefits of intermittent fasting. It seems that when the body is given a break from digesting or consuming our meals, it can take time for healing. Like our own busy lives, our body needs time to repair itself rather than always being on the go.
We are in the ten days of Awe, also called the ten days of repentance. These days are for reflection, repentance, and ultimately returning to the path God has given us to walk. Life comes fast and demands action. Continually making decisions and carrying out commitments, we can run into ourselves. Taking this week to quiet ourselves is like intermittent fasting for the soul and spirit. We can take time to heal, to reflect on our lives, on our decisions, and on the actions we have taken.
Jeremiah said, “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23, NKJV). In Proverbs we read, “Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts” (Proverbs 21:2, NKJV).
Returning is bringing our lives back into Christ and resubmitting ourselves there to the Lord. Not hastily, but with time. We are not looking at others but at ourselves. Returning brings time to heal the soul and spirit. Spending time in prayer with His word allows the two-edged sword of His Word to separate and discern our spirit from our soul, our inner man from our fleshly man, and even to knowing the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
It is not religion. It is returning. Just as the way of man is not in himself, and every way of man is right in his own eyes, we are vulnerable to the deception of sin. Sin is to miss the mark. None of us would assert that every time we hit the ball, every shot we made a basket, and every putt, we put the ball in the hole on the golf course. Of course not. Sin is missing the mark of His glory. Returning is the path. Repentance is being able to see where we missed it.
Here, heaven hears our conversation with God and forgives sin (missed marks, bad choices, junk food), and we heal.
