Emptied of Ourselves and Filled with Christ

I have a wheel on my truck with a crack in it. Because of that, it leaks air. It's a slow leak, but if I don't keep the tire inflated, it will cause damage to the tire. Tires are so interesting to me, because something that is invisible and weightless is what keeps our vehicles from riding like we're on wagon wheels, feeling every bump on the road. 15 years ago, I went to a local tire store to get my tires replaced and they offered me something I'd never heard of....nitrogen instead of just air for my tires. They told me it wouldn't be as affected by rising or dropping temps and the tire pressure would be more consistent. In other words, it's better than normal air. Truthfully, it was more expensive, and I'm super cheap, so I didn't go for it. But the thought of that really intrigued me. It also got me thinking. Do we empty ourselves of the cheap stuff in life and fill up with the premium stuff that God offers, or do we just settle for the lesser because it's less work?

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
1 Peter 2:1–3

Yesterday, we said that fasting is like a reset button for the soul, and today is really a reinforcement of that idea. Like a tire that can be filled with Nitrogen that will be more consistent and more dependable than normal air, we need to be filled with what is more eternal. Every day we are exposed to innumerable images, sounds, and thoughts that are in direct competition with what God wants for us. Fasting allows us to shut down that noise and focus on something better. Removing the need for food forces us to depend on something else to get us through the day. What that is is up to each of us. We all know what's best, though, don't we? Filling that hunger with prayer and God's Word is the only thing that will truly satisfy and give us the satisfaction we need.

Immediately after Christ was baptized by John the Baptist, He went into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days. You read that right. 40 DAYS!!!! What did He do for that amount of time? I think we can see what He was doing by the way He responded to Satan's temptations that were thrown His way.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “'It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4:1–4

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Matthew 4:5–7


Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
Matthew 4:8–10

Each time Satan threw a temptation at Jesus, His response was always the same.... Scripture. Christ had spent so much time in God's Word that His responses were automatic. He knew how to answer immediately. Let's not forget that he was also doing this in a weakened state. His body was depleted. He was starving. Yet, because of what He was filling Himself up with, He was ready for Satan's schemes.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13

Fasting isn't just about not eating. It's about building up your spiritual endurance during a time when you are weak. When we are the emptiest, that's when we need to really knuckle down and get into the Word of God and build those spiritual muscles. That's when we need to dive deep into prayer with God and learn what dependence on Him really is. The scripture you just read says that, "NO temptation has overtaken you that in not common to man." Your situations, while you may feel like you're the only person experiencing them, is just simply not true. This is something to celebrate. That means that you have the ability to resist.

What is the best way to build up our resistance to temptation and flex those muscles? Build those muscles up. Fasting is an unbelievable way to do that. In the military, one of the ways they get the most out of their soldiers is by training them while they're working at a deficit. In other words, work them harder when they're bodies are at their lowest. When you're training for a Marathon, you know that the last few miles will probably be the hardest. That's when your body is the most tired, and you've expended every calorie you've eaten in the last 24 hours. This is also where you find out just how tough you are. Fasting does the same thing. People don't act the same way when they're hungry. We're more irritable, easily frustrated, and our minds tend to wander more. There's also the exhaustion we feel when our body hasn't gotten the nutrients it needs.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
1 Co 9:24–27

The point of Fasting is to build up our spiritual endurance. How we perform at our weakest is where we find out just how strong we are. It gives us more focus. Our hunger won't distract us from what we are here for. The growling of our stomach is nothing more than noise that we tune out as we keep our eyes on Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in us.

"Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
John 6:27

Pray to God as you fast that, as your stomach is emptied of physical food, God will fill it with spiritual sustenance that only comes from Him.