Thoughts in Worship

Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Audio Link: https://www.spreaker.com/user/reachmanyradio/thoughts-in-worship-12-05-2017

This is devotional thought number 8 in our devotional series, God’s Promises are Sure!

“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To loose the bands of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, And to let the oppressed go free, And that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, And that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; And that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, And thine health shall spring forth speedily: And thy righteousness shall go before thee; The glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; Thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, The putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, And satisfy the afflicted soul; Then shall thy light rise in obscurity, And thy darkness be as the noonday: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, And satisfy thy soul in drought, And make fat thy bones: And thou shalt be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; And thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, From doing thy pleasure on my holy day; And call the sabbath a delight, The holy of the Lord, honourable; And shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, Nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; And I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, And feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” (Isaiah 58:6–14).

Let me just tell you from the outset, I am very intrigued by today’s promise and let me tell you why. God shows a startling contrast between those who say we love Him and those who really do. He shows a contrast between those who puff up their chest to proclaim that they are God’s people, and those who really are. Can you see the line of demarcation between the two paradigms? The line is God’s law of liberty. Can you see it? OK. I will not keep you in suspense.

Pride was a huge deal among God’s people during Isaiah’s time. They mistook God’s will to entrust the oracles of truth to them as a way to bring honor to themselves instead of an honor to be used for service. In this particular instance, they thought their abstinence from food was the same as fasting. I get it; some of you may have looked up fasting in the dictionary and seen that it’s an abstinence from food for some period of time. But here’s the thing: when God’s people fasted, it was supposed to bring them closer to Him, and empower them to bring others closer to Him. It was supposed to glorify God, make them a receptive audience for divine instructions, and more faithful ambassadors of God’s love and counsel. Instead, many times God leaders simply starved themselves and wished others to congratulate them for it.

Notice God’s line of reasoning in our theme text. It is very intriguing. Let me share it again, but this time from the New Living Translation: “...this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from...