Today is one of the busiest travel days of the year and I’m called to take a moment away from the New Testament Challenge and offer some thoughts about travel and how it affects (or not) our spiritual journey toward salvation.
One of the most obvious effects of travel is our diet. Despite the best efforts, our diet often takes a back seat (no pun intended) in importance when we travel. How often have you planned a trip with statements like: “When are we eating next?” I can remember many family vacations, especially around the holidays, where as one meal was only beginning we were looking ahead to the next meal. This is often under the pretense that, “schedules must be kept!” if any vacation is to be successful. The problem with this is that it places the incorrect emphasis on food. “Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them.” (1 Corinthians 6.13) While food is a necessary part of life, fasting reminds us that, “And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger” (John 6.35)
Fasting, something that deserves its own blog entry, is a long lost discipline that many of us have neglected in our daily life. When we travel, many invoke the “Travel Canon” (no specific exemption exists by the way) and refrain from fasting even though by today’s standards, fasting even on the interstate highway is just as feasible as in our own homes. For that at least we should be thankful to the era of national chain restaurants!
Without fasting we find ourselves without the discipline of self-control which, when combined with being away from our familiar surroundings of home, may lead to sin. When we travel we are tired and without sleep we already are not making the soundest of decisions. Combined with the lack of self-control and an atmosphere of, ‘I’m traveling so I can do this…’ we lead ourselves further from Christ which is always a danger.
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