21 Day Experience

For the past 21 days (3 weeks or 504 hours or 30,240 minutes...okay...it was a loooong time), my wife and I have been fasting.  We were challenged by a recent online message we saw at Life Church by Pastor Craig Groeschel.  Pastor Craig spoke about fasting and provided different examples of how it could be done.  So for my wife and I, it was not food that we gave up.  It was something that indeed would be difficult for us (especially me).  We gave up watching no TV.  No sports highlights, news, weather or traffic updates.  No DVD movies or online TV shows.  No Netflix online or anything else.  When others had the TV on, we could not watch it.   So my "fasting" was different than most others and I would like to share a few things I learned from this 21 day experience.

1. I discovered YouVersion.  During the message and the online chat, it was recommended to sign up for the 21 day reading plan.  The idea was there would be 21 bible verses and also some encouragement in your fast.  I had heard of YouVersion, but have never used it.  But it helped me tremendously, because instead of turning on the TV very EARLY in the morning I would use the mobile application and read my lesson for the day!  What a great way to get up and read God's Word first!
2. I struggled.  I watch alot of TV, no doubt!  I enjoy certain programs and watching sports.  It has become my relaxation time.  Those first few days were difficult.  TV had become an early morning and late night habit.  In fact, I moved the remote control from the side of bed to a dresser where the TV was so I could not easily grab it.  I am sure some of you struggled with whatever you gave up.
3. I messed up.  I know, we all mess up.  But I was doing really well for 14 days and then BAM it hit me.  Subtle as it was, I was watching a late night TV program that someone else was watching.  I didn't thinking anything about it at the time and it was only for a few minutes, but once I left the TV I realized I had done wrong and messed up.  I definitely felt bad and convicted.  But isn't that how we should approach those things that are wrong against God.  Bad and convicted?
4. I could do it!  Despite the temptations and wanting to watch the last two playoff games before Superbowl, my wife and I did it!  We learned that we can put God first.  We learned that there are other things we can do together instead of TV (shopping or even a puzzle).

So I shared what I learned and I pray that you too will challenge yourself to participate in a 21 day fast.  If you participated in this fast, what did you learn? I would love to hear about your experience.

Cover

Recently, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs announced a solution to some signal problems with Apple's Iphone 4.  The solution is a free protective case.  Some expected refunds or perhaps something of significant value such as some free Itunes would have been a preferred method.  While I don't know how common this problem is, the fact that Consumer Reports would not recommend a purchase is significant. But here's the problem.  The case only covers the problem.  It masks what the problem is which is the design of the antenna on the phone.

Thousand of years ago, there was a man and a woman who lived in a perfect world.  They had everything they wanted.  Perfect weather, food, and just a perfect life.  Then one day, they gave into temptation.  They ate of the fruit from the tree of knowledge.  When they did, they noticed something different about themselves.  Their minds had been altered and they would never be the same.  They could no longer look at themselves with purity and holiness, instead their minds became full of sin.  So in order to hide their sin, the Bible says this:

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.  ~Genesis 3:7

They tried to cover their sin themselves.  But the sin was still there.  We try to cover up our sins.  We make excuses, mask the symptoms, blame others, and deny we have problem.  We hide them by saying we are "saved" or that we are a "Christian", we "go to church", we "pray" but in reality God knows that your sin is still there.

The solution is not to cover your sin, but to change your life.  In order to do that, you need Jesus.  You need a new life.  2 Corinthians 5:17-18 says:

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ¹⁸All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

Don't "cover" your sin, let God create a new life in you.  Jesus wants to give you eternal life, all you have to is to admit your sin, believe in Christ, and confess your sins to him.  Steve Jobs still has a problem with the phone when you take the cover off.  Do you have a problem you are covering up?