“DURING THE SEASON OF LENT…”
…Join Your Pastors for a “Wesleyan Fast” &
Pray for the Welfare of Our City.
Pray for the Welfare of Our City
Pray for the Welfare of Our City
This week our prayer focus is for Thomasville firefighters and first responders.
Pray for their safety, and for an increase in wisdom and knowledge as they respond to folks in desperate circumstances. Give thanks for these men and women and pray that God would continue to give them hearts that love and embrace our city.
• Chief Martin Dailey
• Division Chiefs Don Crafford, Rocky Wats, Dolly Hulin, and EM Director Eddie Bowling
• Thomasville’s 55 firefighters, including Logan Hill, who is a member of Memorial
• Thomasville’s four stations, on East Main Street, South Highway NC 109, Lexington Avenue, and Ballpark Road
For more information, go to www.thomasville-nc.gov/government/fire
Join Your Pastors for the Wesley Fast
On Thursday we begin our second week of fasting. I came across the following in Richard Foster’s classic book Celebration of Discipline. “This list of biblical personages who fasted reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of Scripture: Moses the lawgiver, David the king, Elijah the prophet, Esther the queen, Daniel the seer, Anna the prophetess, Paul the apostle, Jesus Christ the incarnate Son. Many of the great Christians throughout church history fasted and witnessed to its value, among them were Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, David Brainerd, Charles Finney, and Pastor Hsi of China.”
We practice the spiritual disciplines, in part, to tone our spiritual muscles. I am sure Jesus’ forty-day fast in the wilderness and battle with the devil was not his first experience in denying himself. He and others who have followed him have been trained like athletes to win the prize.
I am reminded of my days running on a cross country team. Our coach taught us to distinguish good pain from bad pain. Good pain resulted in the repair and regeneration of muscle tissue. A round of intense workouts with a proper diet, enough rest, and time for stretching made us a winning team. Over time we ran stronger and faster. Bad pain plagued us when we lost the balance between the stress that comes from a long, well-paced run and a healthy recovery. The result was fatigue, pulled muscles, and head colds.
Fasting properly is good pain. As our stomach grumbles, we become more aware of our dependency on God and are brought to pray. We experience self-imposed hunger so that we can better respond to the hunger in the world. Indeed, we develop a keener understanding that Jesus is the bread of life.