A couple of friends of mine and I are doing the 7 fast from Jen Hatmaker's book "7" with the purpose of stripping our hearts of the idolatry of excess.
“Even now,’ declares the LORD, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love” (Joel 2:12–13).”
The first month focuses on food. We each have chosen 7 (or nine) foods to eat for the entire month. Mine are: beef, eggs, spinach, apples, wheat bread, sweet potatoes, and block cheese. I'm allowing a raspberry vinegrette to help with spinach consumption - since eating (blech) spinach is a discipline in itself, and each of us is allowing some caffeine to stay in our lives. My Roo Cup is a staple, and I think my students will appreciate me increasing my list to nine.
I'm the only one in our group who has yet to read the book. Since Jen writes it as a diary, I thought I'd read the book as I go.
Today I'm clearing the fridge of leftovers and thawed items to prepare for shopping later on. As I'm eating my leftover garlic chicken white pizza with black olives, I can't help but marvel in how flavorful it is. The tang of the olives, the garlic( - oh the garlic!), and the creaminess of the white sauce.
Soon after finishing, my thoughts turn to cleaning up the house.
...I happen upon a wrapper. It once hugged - nay, caressed a hazelnut chocolate bar imported straight to Aldi's from Germany.
All I can think about in that moment is how much I love and will dearly miss chocolate....and ice cream, mint, banana smoothies made with *dark chocolate* almond milk, and cold cereal, and ...
And I get it. I get what it means to take our thoughts captive. This is a war. - and I don't mean the card game!
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
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