Growing up I had a narrow picture of fasting: don’t eat food for some period, which as a student sounded challenging. In Matthew 6 and all over scripture we get a rich picture of fasting as an opportunity to grow closer to God, to challenge the status quo in our lives, and dig deeper into prayer.
We are taught instinctively to be leery of anything that seems to be too good to be true. Then we read about God’s sending of John the Baptist to an expectant couple. John, the messenger who was to set the ground work for the coming and long awaited Savior.
This week we get to hear stories of how God is at work in our community, women’s ministry, and through students making their profession of faith.
One definition of integrity focuses on who you are when others are not looking. Part of what this passage invites us to consider is also why we are doing what we are doing. Do we have a sense of why we are doing what we are doing that will guide us and ground us even if no one else is watching, or no one else sees, or we don’t even know the impact?