"There is an inescapable law that governs all living things, including human health; it's the law of reaping and sowing."
Some are reluctant to discuss the physiology of fasting for fear of compromising spiritual focus. Or conversely, the secular-health industry goes into great scientific detail about fasting’s miraculous healing ability while vaguely and often wrongly mentioning its spiritual work. This website attempts to address both in a balanced way. We will parallel the harmonious blessing fasting has on the whole you, body, soul and spirit.
You may ask, do we not fast for the sole purpose of drawing closer to God? Sounds spiritual, but I think the Church often forgets that the ministry of Christ is to the whole person. Jesus touched all forms of infirmity: sick body with the hands of a Healer, wounded soul with words of freedom, and barren spirit with living waters of life. All made new on every level of human need.
Years ago, before I began studying fasting’s effect on the body, I had a vague understanding about why people fasted. Ironically, it wasn’t until I began studying fasting’s work on the body that the deeper spiritual nature of fasting open up to me. The greatest surprise was how perfectly fitted this antique tool is for our modern times, holding greater impact on human need than any time in history. The toxic long list the body, mind and spirit must now confront today is overwhelming. Pollutants in food, air and water are obvious. Busyness, media and addiction are less obvious but no less toxic to the spirit.
I want to clear up most people’s nasty first impressions that fasting is somehow bad or dangerous. In fact, it is quit the reverse.
Law Of Reaping
When you begin to strip the complications of living down to the bare bone, it’s amazing how starkly accountable we become for the circumstances we find ourselves in, all because of this simple little principle. There is an inescapable law that governs all living things. It determines who you are today and what you will become tomorrow. It is the law of reaping and sowing. Today’s blessings or sorrows are more about reaping what you have been sowing over the last years than helpless fate. There is little luck involved. Tomorrow will be the product of the decisions you sow today. This law governs the physical and spiritual realms, the body, mind and spirit and cannot be truer when it comes to health.
We are victims of ourselves. Sow unhealthy eating—reap hardening of the arteries, high blood pressure, 30 pounds of excess body fat, weakness, premature aging, even cancer. Sow five hours a week running and biking—reap energy into older life, mental clarity, lean body, lower blood pressure and possible years of healthy old age. A simple law legislating itself on the very cells of our body.
Fifty percent of all North Americans are sick and obese and it is getting worse every year. Despite the advances made in medical science, cancer, heart disease, high-blood pressure and diabetes are exploding out of control. The modern life-style only deepens the problem of emptiness and depression by producing a destructive cycle of feeding cravings and starving the spirit. This cycle dulls the five senses, stripping us of vitality and energy, disconnected from a vibrant world. The effect is similar to going deaf, forced to increase the volume to a level of damage. More fat, salt, and sugar are needed for the same emotional lift, until every cell groans under the burden of toxic build-up.
God has created food to enhance the working of our body while man has reinvented food to create dependence and addiction. After ingesting millions of empty calories our body forgets what it is like to feel youthful and energetic, bouncing out of bed after a good night’s sleep. The sluggish feeling becomes a normal state and since everyone around is feeling the same way, rundown health becomes the standard.
The good news is the body has an astounding capacity to heal and cleanse, even reverse aging, given the right conditions. In fact, your body has a built-in command to heal and cleanse. And one of the quickest ways to give the body an opportunity to fulfill that command is through fasting.
Many of you have had a bad first introduction to fasting. Although there is a vague knowledge that fasting is good; after all, Jesus fasted; first impressions have been less than favorable. Even a few hours without food can cause headaches and discomfort. Tongue turns yellow, breath becomes foul, weakness and dizziness set in, and confirming what you already suspected—fasting is undesirable, even dangerous!
In talking to people about fasting, I have discovered that many have tried to fast at least for a day. The consequences were usually described as "bad." Some are so afraid of such negative initial reactions that they fear missing even one meal, not realizing that this is the body loudly stating its need to fast. A need to detoxify years of bad eating resulting in restored health.
Related Article: Why Fasting Heals