Isaiah 58:6-8
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.” Isaiah 58:6-8 NIV
God calls us not merely to go through religious routines, but to show justice and mercy to those in need. He called us to love and care for those in need in the world. That’s when your light breaks forth like the dawn. And we experience all that He has designed for us. Not when we are participating in religious ritual but when we are showing His mercy, His love, His justice in the world around us. So let’s bring these words into our lives today. Think about your own heart, I can get so consumed with doing religious activity. Just like verse 6?fasting is not bad, but if we do that religious activity and yet we are not showing mercy and justice in the world, then we’re missing the point. We are missing the point if we are not caring for the hungry and working on behalf of the oppressed.And so we need to be thinking our lives continually, to what does that look like to care for people with urgent, physical needs and urgent spiritual needs? And so I want to encourage you to think in the same way. Let’s not get in the routine of going through religious motions on a week by week basis and then we step back and God’s saying, where is your care for the hungry? What’re you doing on behalf of the oppressed? To help the enslaved become free? So these are realities in the world around us. In the city where I live, in the city where you live, there are hungry. In the country where we live, there are people enslaved and oppressed. And then in the world around us, there’s massive hunger, massive slavery, oppression. So what are we doing as God’s people about that? God help us. Fasting seems to be an uncommon practice, at least among believers that I am familiar with. And I suspect at least a part of the reason is that we really do not understand what purpose it serves as a spiritual discipline. We understand the need for prayer, Bible reading, worship, and fellowship even if we do not always do them well. But what is the purpose of fasting? I believe fasting can be useful in denying your own bodily appetites to focus instead on God. And that can be a useful practice that draws one closer to God. I have found it takes a lot of discipline. Not to avoid the food. But to stay focused on God during that period. However, it is well worth it. In this passage, Isaiah shares a different kind of fasting. One I believe we could all easily practice. It involves self-denial. But rather than for meditative purposes, it is so that I can give. The fasting Isaiah is talking about is taking what you would ordinarily spend on yourself and giving it to those who are in need. To use my fasting to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and clothe the naked. For example, rather than going out to eat, buy a gift card from a restaurant and give it to a homeless person. According to Isaiah, that is the kind of fasting God has chosen.
Father thank You for this day and for the Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments and the wonderful truths that they contain. Lord let Your abundant blessings be my friend and families portion today. Lord thank You that through their pages You have unveiled Your Holy Character, Your plan of redemption, and the message of the Cross. Lord help us to familiarize ourselves with every part of Your Word, and to be guided into all truth by the Holy Spirit. Lord give us discernment, we pray, not to be misled by false teachers who read into the Scriptures a wrong interpretation of the truth. Lord use my friend to be an example that others know the way they should go. Daddy we love You amen. Be a blessing. Love ya !
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