Reflections on the 40-Day Facebook Fast

Beauty
Reason
Entertainment
Attention
Deliciousness

The wisest Man said that man does not live on bread alone (Matthew 4:4a).  For him who stayed in the wilderness for 40 days without food, ultimately his body's need would be just that.  Of course, it is not wrong to have this need, but any need has the potential to be an impetus for us to sin.  What do I mean?  When we fall into the temptation of allowing other things apart from God to satisfy us, when we act independently of Him, then we fall into sin.  Jesus was hungry and the devil himself was suggesting the bait, would Jesus' need for bread be an excuse for him to take on the devil's offer?

"but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4b)

Many times we feed on stale bread- beauty, reason, entertainment, attention, deliciousness, or whatever it is for you (these are what I have identified as the temptations for me)- thinking that it could fill emptiness, console loneliness, and satisfy longings.  But interestingly, no matter how much we consume, we are left feeling more unsatisfied because although we think we need that stale bread, it will only remain as that- stale and dry- and can never compare to the grandeur of a feast.

Rather than surrendering to temptations, we are called to feed on the word of God- for His Word gives us the strength to stand up against these!  Oh, for His Word is not just any bread to fill us for a moment, but it is the bread of life!  And this Bread of Life will sustain us until we are called to feast forever with Him in Heaven.

^"Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life,and I will raise them up at the last day”  (John 6:35-39).

Text:
Inspiration from Ptr. Rob
Scripture taken from the New International Version (NIV) from biblegateway.com.

Image:
Bread

Application

After clicking on the refresh button for the tenth time in the last hour, I did not know what I was expecting the webpage to do.  "Come on, Facebook, do something new," I grumbled.  

Hence I put up cool photos, witty quotes, inspirational videos, and intently watched out for the red bubble to appear with numbers: 2... 3... 1... none... none... none...  then out came a disappointed sigh.  

Obviously, there was a heart issue going on: something that I was expecting for this particular social network to fulfill, but apparently, was not doing so.  I had to step away because I was sensing something was not right.  With a scroll and a click of the mouse, I answered a survey asking why I was deactivating: "This is temporary.  I will be back."  

I will be back to proclaim the revelation of Christ- that no matter how many friends we've accumulated in life- as precious as they are- can never take away the loneliness and fill in the hole in our hearts that is reserved for the Bread of Life.  I let Him satisfy me today.