Welcome to The Upper Room. So glad you came.
We continue with our meditations in The Book of Daniel. We are presently on verses 2 and 3 of Chapter 10, The Daniel Fast. It reads,
"In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled."
Yesterday, we diffused the seeming conflict between Daniel 10:2-3 and Matthew 6:17-18. It is similar to the seeming conflict we see in Isaiah 1:11-17. All the sacrifices were ordained by God, not man. However, the people had missed the intent and were now worshipping the sacrifice.
They missed the point. Ain't we all just like them. We fall in love with the practice we miss the intent of the practice. The practice is not for the practice, but to achieve a purpose, an intent. Without the intent and purpose, the practice loses its meaning.
And the issue is not with the practice itself. The issue is with us. Isn't that the same thing Paul illustrates to us as per the Law? The issue is not the Law itself. The Law was given by God. The Law is perfect. [Psalm 19:7] The Law of the Lord is spiritual. The issue is with the sin in us. [Romans 7:14-15]
Thanks be to God the hold of sin has been broken. We are no more servants to sin. [Romans 6:18] We can "...serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter." [Romans 7:6] We can fast as Daniel, Darius, David, Esther, Ezra, etc. did for as long it is coming from our heart and unto God.
It is not the suffering God receives. It is our heart. It is not just the sacrifice. It is the LIVING sacrifice. [Romans 12:1] The heart is captured in the LIVING. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise." (Psalm 51:17)
The Saint.
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