7 Weeks Q&A #1:
If “to obey is better than sacrifice,” then is fasting really necessary?
This is a great question!
They are referring to Hosea 6.6 where God says He wants our loyalty more than our “sacrifices.” What this means is that God is looking at the heart more than our actions. He sees the motives! Religious actions done with the wrong motives is manipulation! We are to come before God with pure motives.
There is no place that God tells us not to fast, so i believe it is still ok for us to do, but we must do it with pure hearts before Him.
What good is it to try to “go the extra mile” to get closer to God? On one hand it seems we believe that God totally disregards individual volition because we have no hope of living in a way that pleases Him, but on the other hand God responds to individual volition when we choose to do something that pleases Him (fast)? It’s seems inconsistent – God overlooks habitual immorality because we are so depraved that even He can’t change us — but then He draws close to us when we demonstrate a desire to be holy?