December 1, 2025, when Righteous Gideon of the Old Testament was called by the Lord to choose his warriors for battle, he was told to look upon his brothers as they came near a stream kneeling to drink and replenish.
He noticed most of the men succumbed their chests and lapped the water like animals, putting their heads down, oblivious to what stood before them. While a smaller group knelt on one knee, kept their chest high, continuously looking upon the horizon, scooping up the water with the palm of their hand. These were the men the Lord recruited.
Now therefore go to proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.
So, he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, everyone that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise, everyone that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.
Judges 7:3-7
Why did the Lord choose these and not the other?
In times of worldly battles, the lesser warriors will put their heads down, focus on their needs, lose their situational awareness and forget to keep their gaze upon the horizon to notice an approaching enemy.
Likewise, in these, end of times, that are so evidently upon us, Orthodox Christians and Christians in general, are asked to keep their gaze upon the horizon of their hearts to watch for the throngs of visible and invisible enemies that come upon us. To bow their knees only to the Living God. To stay true to the faith.
This is the sole purpose of the seasonal fasts commended to us precisely as training for these days. But our victory lay not in rule keeping and intentional harshness in our work, rather the emptying of worries and heavy foods in order to harness the mercy of the Lord that He so yearns to bestow upon us.
Our aim is not in the work ethic prescribed as part of fasting; this is the teaching of the heterodox. Rather, our aim is to obtain the freedom that only Christ can give us through His sweet yolk. Grace is not given to us as reward for working to keep the strictest diet possible, rather moving closer to Him and removing the world from our hearts, not for its own sake, but for the sake of Him.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30
The Lord knows our sincerity and our intension. Like the Widow who offered out of her lack of abundance, He is with us in our poverty and accepts our ability to refrain from passions and our attempts at fasting within our own strength (everything that we have to offer at the moment) as long as we keep doing it, consistently, with Him as a focus.
However, Ascetical Practice with the sole focus on strictness is much like giving out of your abundance, lapping the water with your tongue and losing focus of the horizon of our hearts. This sort of fasting is for personal gain and exterior recognition, every bit like the rich who threw from their abundance into the treasury. They did it for show.
Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.
Mark 12:41-44
In times of unforeseen difficulties, however these may manifest in our lives, we are tempted to put our heads down, be it on our phones, or upon the worries and cares that the world shouts to the rooftops are the most important. In doing this, we disarm our chest by disassociating mind and heart, we internalize and isolate like the animals. We allow old fears to reappear, broken thoughts, or our desire to work and achieve without any other purpose than human glory. We hide and lose sight of the bigger picture. We forget to love. We forget Christ.
Remember, dear ones, it is precisely when we struggle that we must get down on one knee and lap from the sweet waters of our Lord Jesus Christ, keeping our eyes on the horizon, lifting our gaze up for potential enemies. Not so that we can fight them, but so that we may call out to Christ! More than that, to reengage our heart and mind to arm our chest, freeing ourselves of what burdens us as best as we can, so we may witness, that even in difficult times, beauty exists.
We must trust and hope for greater meaning, greater hope, and greater glory. Never allow difficult times and the hunt for empty achievements quench your love for Christ.
Deacon Christopher Purdef
