“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6, NIV).

     Ksenia Ovchinnikova has sued McDonald’s over an advertisement featuring cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets. The Orthodox Christian claims the advert caused her to break her fast during Lent. Despite successfully fasting for the previous sixteen years, she was unable to resist the temptation and wound up eating a burger. In a court filing, Ovchinnikova wrote:

         When I saw the commercial banner, I could not
         help myself…I ask the court to investigate and,
         if a violation [of the consumer protection law]
         has taken place, to oblige McDonald’s to
         compensate me for moral damage in the
         amount of one thousand rubles [or fourteen dollars].

One can’t make up this kind of story. As the saying goes, reality is often stranger than fiction.

     Fasting during the season of Lent has been a traditional spiritual discipline over the centuries. The purpose of fasting is much deeper than giving up certain foods for a time. According to the prophet, Isaiah, fasting addresses the need to untie the cords of a yoke that binds us to deeply rooted sins. Fasting is more than an outward practice but an inward transformation.

     Fasting is also linked with prayer. Together, these spiritual exercises can help us hear God more clearly. Fasting and prayer also enable us to see our own brokenness more clearly and allow God’s Spirit to better control our reckless emotions and desires.

     Fasting, in particular, has become fashionable of late. Many people are willing to pay thousands of dollars a week to visit health spas where they go without food. Rather than stuffing themselves with steak and lobster, they subsist on herbal teas, bee pollen, blended soups, and honey. Fasters claim the experience not only helps them lose weight but reveals to them how addicted they are to the satisfaction of their own appetites.

For guidance as to how you can practice fasting safely, go to:
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/blog/fasting-the-most-neglected-means-of-grace

And for heaven’s sake, don’t allow those McDonald’s ads to weigh on your mind. Instead, bow on your knees and ask God for a nugget of wisdom.