Fasting is the earliest commandment

[Mary Naeem]

Pope Shenouda III


Fasting is the earliest commandment


Fasting is the earliest commandment known to mankind, for God commanded our ancestor Adam to refrain from eating a certain fruit from a certain tree (Gen 2:16,17) but allowed him to eat from the rest.
In this way, God set for the body certain limits beyond which it should not go.
Thus, man did not have absolute freedom to take whatever he laid eyes on and whatever he desired. He had to abstain from certain things and control his inclination towards them. Thus since the very beginning, man has had to control his body.