Greetings, brothers and sisters in Christ and children of God.

Are you a breakfast person? Not everyone likes breakfast. In fact, they often will skip breakfast, despite the fact that many say it is the most important meal of the day. I recently heard that those who coined that phrase did so because they were promoting breakfast and promoting their products, such as Kellogg’s, Post, and other cereal companies. I cannot say that this fact is true, but from a promotional stance, it would make sense.

The word breakfast is a combination of two words, “break” and “fast”. Going an entire night without eating is a time of fasting, and when you get up in the morning and eat, you then break your fast, hence the word “breakfast”. Commonly, one finds joy when they have gone a long time without eating and then are allowed to eat. It does not mean that it has to be in the morning. You can break your fast anytime, and when you do, you probably feel joyous that you received food. Perhaps you might even make a festival out of it if you had gone without for a long time.

The Judeans were taken captive. The Lord brought Judah grief because of her many sins, and her children went into exile (Lamentations 1:5). Lament is a passionate expression of grief or sorrow, and the book of Lamentations is the writings of a witness to the destruction of Judah. Many scholars believe that Jeremiah was the author of Lamentations. As the Judeans lamented, they had annual fasts for the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months (Zechariah 7:3-5). These annual fasts coincided with the fall of Jerusalem as they remembered the breach of Jerusalem’s walls (fourth month), the burning of the Temple (fifth month), the assassination of Gedaliah, the governor of Judah (seventh month), and the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar’s siege (tenth month). These annual fasts lasted 70 years. That is a long time to fast, wouldn’t you say?

Throughout scripture we find that whenever the people mourn, they fast and pray. There is a righteous fasting which consists of the heart being true when fasting, hence the reason God asks the Judeans if their annual fast was really for Him and if their feasting was for themselves (Zechariah 7:5-6). As we continue reading Zechariah, we find the answer to the question that was posed by the people, if they should continue to mourn and fast in the fifth month (Zechariah 7:3). God’s response was, “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will become joyful festivals” (Zechariah 8:19).

All this to say, there comes a time of mourning in which we must fast and pray for a restoration of the body, whether it is an individual body or an assembled body; the restoration can only come from God based on the condition of the heart during our fast. God will, at an appointed time, break our fast and call us to celebrate in feast with joyful festivals. Through your fasting, hold tight to the hope in the Lord, for the feast is coming.  

Last week, the little lambs discussed John and his writing of Revelation, noting that there is an end and new beginnings, with a reminder that the Lord’s mercies are new every day (Lamentations 3:22-23). This week, we will become detectives as we investigate the bible and search for clues that prove God is the creator of all creation. The hope in this new series is that the children will not only learn about God, but why they believe God is the one God and Jesus is the Son.

I look forward to seeing each of you tomorrow and worshiping with you through songs of praise and dancing before the Lord, our God Almighty – El Shaddai. If, for whatever reason, I do not see you, may the Lord bless you with joy, peace, and abundance of love that pours out all over, and may He comfort you, heal you, and guide you when you are in need.

God bless you,

Your brother in Christ,

Michael (aka Mr. Michael)