Day 14 | Not If, but When You Fast

Matthew 6:16-18

Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head, and wash your face so that you may not be seen fasting by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

What gripped me about this text were the words in verse 16, “Whenever you fast…” I noticed that it does no say, “If you fast,” but rather, “when you fast.”  Jesus assumed that fasting was a good thing and that it would be done by his disciples. In Matthew 6:16-18, Jesus is not teaching whether we should fast or not. He is assuming we will fast, and is teaching us how to do it, and especially, how not to do it.

Here is what we should not to do when fasting. In Matthew 6:16, we are told to not be like the hypocrites with gloomy faces.  If people admire you for the way you look when fasting then that is your reward. Oh how strong is the love of the praise of men!  We will dress for it, and strut our status in the marketplace for it, and posture ourselves for it at parties, and take up an important pose at church, and even lengthen our prayers to cover our heartless love of money with religious camouflage.

Jesus says that if this reward from other people is what you love, this is what you get. “Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”

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