Day 22: Engage in a 1-Day or 1-Week TV Fast

Personal:
Even before you decide whether you'll actually do the fast or not, there's an even more important question to ask yourself...is this going to be difficult to give up? It's an easy way to find out whether something has a hold on your life, try to give it up for a day...or for a week...or for a lifetime. Obviously there are somethings that we know have a hold on us which aren't necessarily bad, like food for example...try giving food up for a week.

Another example is relationships, I would never want to give up my wife for a month. I had to be away from her the entire first month we were engaged, and that was awful...but it was supposed to be awful. On the other hand letting go of things like junk food, smoking, television programs, facebook, and video games should not illicit the same emotions or discomfort we feel when we are separated from food or loved ones for an extended period of time. When I think about it, I realize how absurd it is that I have a hard time giving some of these things up.

Action:
The idea behind fasting is that we take the time abstaining from one thing and fill it with time devoted to the Lord. I wonder how different my life would look if I spent all the hours that I have taken on e-mail, facebook, and text messaging, and had spent it on time with the Lord instead. What would I be doing right now? Where would I be? How many lives could have been affected by all those hours that will never be touched by me now?