No, you read that right. It’s true. I’m as shocked as you are, but it’s true.
I’m giving up Pepsi.
For those who don’t know me as well as the folks who just died of shock, some context: I love Pepsi. I call it the nectar of the gods, and I stand by that assessment. At home, I was never long without it; if someone from work was running to the gas station, I got my XL Pepsi with ice. My team just knew. I miss my friend/supervisor Isaac, and all his Pepsi fetching ways.
It became my beverage of choice some years back; a glass of Pepsi first thing in the morning was in my mind roughly equivalent to a cup of coffee. I worked for a hospital that sold it in the cafeteria, and it was like heaven opened a satellite office. Also, it’s the most delicious and satisfying beverage on the planet (except in South America, where it tastes weird, which made me sad.)
It’s not so much that I have a “problem” so much as I feel like God is nudging me to fast from Pepsi. I’m not gonna lie, I don’t love the idea. I could care less about fasting something useless and awful like anchovies, but Pepsi is a whole other matter. Pepsi is sacred.
Oh, snap. That explains a lot. Future blogs on idolatry in the 21st century coming soon.
I already embrace fasting as a part of my regular life, and have for about 6 years now. It’s lovely. I have come to honestly, truly enjoy it, and I encourage anyone who is in any way serious about their faith to cultivate the practice.
For me, it goes like this: on the day that I fast, no food. That’s it. From the time I get up to the time I go to bed, I enjoy as much delicious water, tea, or juice as my little heart desires, and oh yeah, some Pepsi. Just no food. Last month, I felt challenged to go deeper, and went from my haphazard, today-seems-like-a-good-day-to-fast schedule to fasting one day a week.
The point, though, is to give up something that matters, so clinging to my Pepsi smacks of intellectual dishonesty, and I honestly never saw the incongruity until last month. ( I’m a little slow to catch on sometimes, but thank the Lord, He is patient.”)
I let this innocuous thing grow into something a little bit more insidious, and I justified it with a quote from a book by Lauren Winner which paraphrases as follows: “All the protein-enriched V8 juice in the world won’t make you feel like you’ve eaten a steak dinner.”
This is true. Fortunately, I don’t give a hoot about steak, but unfortunately I love Pepsi. One could argue that it’s kinda like juice. Sort of. (Look, I didn’t say it was right, okay?) Don’t get me wrong, I flipping love food. Simple carbs and I go way back. You have a problem being disciplined to pray? Don’t worry, when you can smell the bread from every bakery in town on fast day, those hunger pangs and some Pavlovian mouth watering will remind you plenty. That’s actually kind of the point.
I heard someone say, rather poignantly, that “Fasting comes out of a place of spiritual angst.” When you see the outcome of fasting in scripture, it doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it comes attached to a real world scenario. It comes in response to spiritual angst: for the lost, for the sick, for the oppressed, for the innocent, out of a desire for forgiveness, to draw closer to God, and the list goes on. Fasting isn’t a hobby; fasting is spiritual weightlifting.
I fast because I am offering God an intentional space in my day. Jesus discusses the value of fasting (I would argue, contextually, that He did it.) David fasted, Peter fasted, and there are other examples dotted throughout the scriptures. It’s not some weird Old Testament practice or some kooky far-East transcendental trip. The needs and desires I would normally fill with my food, I choose to fill with Him, and there is power in doing so. And honestly, I’ve come to love it.
So I am giving up my beloved Pepsi for the remainder of the race. I may even go further than that. I honestly don’t know. I generally don’t get an instruction book with this whole “faith” business.
“So where is this going?” I hear you ask. Let me stick a pin in it for my “bullet point” people. You know who you are.
Go read the Bible. It says things about this, and I am not the smartest person in the room on the matter of fasting.
Fasting is a discipline, both spiritual and physical, and it has benefits both spiritual and physical.
The only reason I fast is because this girl I was dating was into it, and it seemed like a good idea to try it. (That is a terrible reason to learn things, but hey, now I can crochet and I fast. Life skills.) I never did it because, well, no one had ever told me it was a thing. So let me be the first to tell you- fasting is a thing. A really, really good thing.
I actually enjoy it. I didn’t at first, especially when i lived with people who left out a basket of snacks every day, but anyone can do this. Anyone. (Read: “you.” You can do this.) There are a million things you can fast, it doesn’t have to be food. (Although in my personal opinion, I think there’s a plethora of reasons for fasting food that make it significant.)
So I’m going to be a little snarky for a moment and put you on the spot: “What could you be fasting that would create a space for God in your life?” Then, when you have that thing in your mind, you know, go fast for a day.
Also, if there’s a little voice in your head saying, “I don’t need to do that,” tell it to SHUT UP. You probably do. Go to step one. ( Yeah, I’m pretty blunt. But in my defense, it is my blog.)
Y’all go chew on this, and lemme know what you come up with. “OH, LOOK!” you say, “His blog has a comments section. I should use that!” Yes, yes you should. I look forward to continuing growing with you all, and I want to join you in prayer.
Fundraising Update: God is so good! Last month’s deadline was to reach 14,000, and He provided all of it! This month’s deadline is to reach $15,000, and there is only about $850 left of that. God is CRAZY good to me, y’all.
Time changes are going to be weird, what with being in NEPAL and everything. I will still continue to post blogs regularly-ish, and will have some coming out about our experiences here in Nepal soon. They will post at weird times, so watch your inboxes.
