Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. —Luke 4:1-2

The Wilderness of Life

We will all find ourselves in the wilderness

.

We may find ourselves in the wilderness by

or

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.

The wilderness can be a place both of beauty and

, discovery and desolation.

When we

ourselves to encounter God in the wilderness, we carry the encounter forever.

The wilderness or desert (Greek: eremos) is a significant place in the Bible and the history of the church:

• A place of
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  and temptation
• A place of
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  (Mark 6:31)
• A place of God’s
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• A place of
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  with God
• The
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  fathers and mothers fled there to seek God and escape the seductive power of society.

Jesus in the Wilderness

We live at a time when we can nearly banish

from our lives.

Depriving ourselves is

.

We need to learn that being deprived is often

for us.

After his baptism, Jesus did not go straight to

. (Luke 3:21-22)

He spent

fasting in the wilderness to prepare for the ministry that would lead to the cross.

Jesus was tempted by Satan “to be

(‘turn stones into loves’), to be

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(‘throw yourself down’), and to be

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(‘I will give you all these kingdoms’).” (Henry Nouwen)

Jesus chose intentional time away from

so that he could prepare for his ministry.

Fasting and prayer enabled Jesus to see

so that when he was tempted, he could resist.

From Deprivation to Clarity

Today, we tend to reject practices like fasting and other forms of deprivation as

and

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.

“I fear there are now thousands of Methodists, so called, both in England and Ireland, who, following the same bad example, have entirely left off fasting; who are so far from fasting twice a week… that they do not fast twice in the month!” —John Wesley

The purpose of fasting is not deprivation, but offering ourselves to

.

The practice of fasting refers to going without

, while

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to going without things other than food.

John Wesley asked his preachers, “Will you recommend fasting or abstinence, both by precept and

?”

Fasting helps us realize what is really

us.

“More than any other discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us.” —Richard Foster

“The desert teaches by taking away.” —William Langewiesche

Excess often makes us

, while deprivation often makes us

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.

When we get rid of the inessential, we can focus on the

.

Action Steps

Do

that makes you uncomfortable each day this week.

Fast from

or abstain from your

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for 24 hours.