Day 3: Real Fasting

February 20, 2026

Day 3: Real Fasting

Day 3, February 20

by Michael Lovett

Readings

Isa 58:1-9a

Matt 9:14-15

Reflection

Watch the video of this devotional HERE after reading the scriptures.

How do we bring justice, help the unhoused, and right all the wrongs? Fasting. What gets God angry? According to our reading in Isaiah today, it includes when people don't fast, or do it with only an outward focus (lose weight, look spiritual, feel self-righteous). People are trafficked daily all over the world, and we fast to shed a couple of pounds or look holy to ourselves or others?? What??

God has a plan to bring the good, the true, and the beautiful, but our free will allows us to get WAY off course. Fasting from our convenience and our privilege to come sleep daily in a warm home, or our savings, or our spiritual community can numb us to the needs of others.

What is the solution? Fasting from a sincere heart, bringing both God and others-awareness into the fast. Pick ANYTHING to go without, and when you want it, pray, donate to a charity, or build some baggies of nutritious food to share with someone begging on a corner. Or, when you feel the urge to enjoy the thing from which you are fasting, call the soup kitchen and sign up for another slot to serve. Pray and consider how blessed you are...in order to bless others. Pray about missing the point and the people so often. Repent of turning away. Everyone deserves a smile, a kind word, or a hug, even if you don't have a handout or lots of margin to volunteer at the local nonprofit.

In Matthew's gospel today, we see the religious missing other-awareness, just like we do. Jesus and his guys are getting bothered/questioned for not going with the flow in the spiritual community. It became spiritually "cool" to fast twice a week, but the needs of the poor were not getting met, and everyone was on edge, trying to follow rules beyond God's law. Jesus calls himself the bridegroom in his response and says, in effect, how silly would it be to fast during the best time ever... when I, the Messiah, am here? That would be ridiculous to come to a wedding and eat nothing due to self-righteous fasting.

Fasting is an act of anticipation (of the fruition of the goal of the fast) and stripping down distractions (getting tolerance for going without, suffering, and living with less). Please consider something you might give up for a few weeks so that you might return to God in a new way. Please comment below, we'd love to read what is helpful to you!

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