One of the traditions of the Lenten season is fasting. Back in the early days of the Church, believers decided that preparation for Easter should include fasting. One could fast on Ash Wednesday, on Good Friday, and abstain from eating meat on Fridays during Lent. If you wanted to have one last fling before Lent, you could overindulge on the day before Ash Wednesday. We call that day as Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras.
But fasting is a form of self denial. It is a way of acknowledging that life is not all about meeting our every desire. We can gain greater perspective from unsatisfied hunger pangs. And those pangs serve as reminders that Jesus endured indescribable pain as he approached the cross. His pain was emotional, as his friends deserted him; it was physical as he was beaten, nailed to the cross, and left to bleed until he suffocated; it was spiritual as he bore the guilt of the world's sin. He suffered because of his love for us, and his suffering defeated the power of sin and death over us.
Many Christians are fasting now, and that fasting can take many different forms. Some are avoiding certain foods, some taking a vacation from social media, some abstaining from alcohol. Tradition says that you can take a break from your fast on Sundays during Lent. So the 40 days do not include the six Sundays in the season, and the whole season is 46 days.
But when we deny ourselves, we find freedom from things that demand our attention. Even those good things (that we may resume after Easter) no longer have such a strangle hold on us. We have perspective. We have choice. We have freedom. We also have greater intimacy with the One who really suffered.
