Happy New Year! David and I have both had this sense that God is going to grow us, shape us, stretch us, and use us in big ways this year. A friend of ours suggested we do the Daniel Fast to start the New Year, as a way to draw closer to our Lord. I have never been interested in fasting in the past, but this time it seemed like it was something that my body, soul, and spirit was longing to do. After much discussion and prayer, we decided to do this as a family and aim for doing it the whole month of January!
The Daniel Fast is a Biblical fast based on the life of Daniel. Daniel ate only foods that came from seed (we discern the current options as fruits, veggies, legumes, whole grains, unleavened bread) and drank only water. No caffeine, sugar, alcohol.
To prepare for the fast, I looked online at daniel-fast.com, bought her book, studied the menu plans and recipes, stripped the kitchen of all non-Daniel fast foods, and cooked up a bunch of beans on New Years Eve.
I have never cooked dried beans before, but decided I should start, since we will be eating a ton of beans this month. The idea of opening canned beans all the time was not appealing. When I priced dried beans vs. canned, I was pleasantly surprised at the incredible savings. Dried costs about 66% less!
True, it does take more time and effort to cook dried beans, but friends have told me about pressure cookers. If beans will continue to be a part of our future, I will definitely need to get one!
Beans soaking…
So, today is the first day. I am doing a juice fast for the first 10 days. Fed David and the boys muesli for breakast, brown rice and veggies for lunch, and veggie chili with salad for dinner. They also snacked on fruit and carrots.
We read a devotional that talked about ‘Firstfruits’. In the Old Testament, people would give their ‘firstfruits’, their best offering, to the priest. We don’t really do that today, at least not in a ceremonial way like they did back then. I mean, we do tithe, but do we really, really, offer our firstfruits to our Creator and Savior?
I have spent the day pondering this. Do I give my best to my Lord?
Firstfruits in finances?
Firstfruits in time?
Firstfruits in thoughts?
Firstfruits in deeds?
Firstfruits.