Scripture: Isaiah 58:2-3
They seek me day after day, desiring knowledge of my ways like a nation that acted righteously, that didn’t abandon their God. They ask me for righteous judgments, wanting to be close to God. “Why do we fast and you don’t see; why afflict ourselves and you don’t notice?” Yet on your fast day you do whatever you want, and oppress all your workers.
Thought for the Day: On Sunday, I will preach on the next section of Isaiah 58, but I am struck by the expectation of the so-called “faithful” who are the intended audience of Isaiah. It is like they qualified their faith by saying, “I am religious so that I can ___________.” or “I am a Christian so that I get ____________.” This was the mindset of those to whom these words were written, and when they did not get what was expected from God, their reason for faithfulness seemed to disappear. Why is God important? Why do I claim a faith/belief in God? Why do we as Christians claim to follow in the ways of Jesus? The typical answer is, “So that I can go to heaven.” I hear Isaiah blasting that mentality with his stinging sarcasm. Instead of thinking about it as a business contract where there is an agreed upon exchange of benefits/resources, why don’t we simply think of it in terms of a love relationship. I claim to be a person of faith because I love God, and I have chosen to follow Jesus because I love Jesus and his ways. You do not get married to someone because you’ll get sex or have someone to do the things around the house that you don’t like doing or because you don’t like being alone in the house. You get married because you fall in love. The others might be true, but they should not appear on the list entitled: WHY I GOT MARRIED. Isaiah expresses frustration for those who fast (or any of the other spiritual disciplines) as a means to getting something from God. Fasting, like all the Spiritual disciplines, is a way of falling even deeper in love with God – just like when you listen to the one you love because you are genuinely interested in the person and want to know everything there is to know.
Prayer: Continue to teach me the many avenues by which I can come to know you better, O God who first loved me. Allow my love to grow as I learn more and more about you and the beauty of your grace. Amen.
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