Dear God, good, faithful, present and strong, help us to respect what You say and have said. In Isaiah 58 You tell us clearly that if we take You and our faith and faithfulness lightly we might expect a less than vital relationship with You and less than satisfaction in life. However, if we do choose to do more than go through the motions of devotion, to make our whole lives worship rather than just intensify our praise, prayer or fasting for a few minutes, to live out our worship in benevolence and compassion, in service and humane and practical support of others... then... then we will experience Your best blessings: light will dawn in our emotional and spiritual and moral darkness, healing will begin to happen, things will begin to go right, Your presence will precede, accompany and follow us, Your will protect and provide well for us, You will be responsive to us, our prayers will cause us to experience Your presence evidently and powerfully, we will sense your direction and leading, we will find our needs not only met but we will find a deep satisfaction, our spirits and bodies and our minds and our hearts will become stronger because we will be nourished and filled, refreshed and enabled, we will begin to do good things and the things we do will be done better, we will find the fulfillment of participating and sharing your redemption with those who are broken and need restoration, we will be lifted up to unexpected heights and will participate in Your gracious feast. Bless us to be faithful and full of faith, for Your sake as well as ours. Amen ◄ Isaiah 58 ► New Living Translation True and False Worship 1“Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid. Tell my people Israel of their sins! 2Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about me. They act like a righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God. They ask me to take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near me. 3‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’ “I will tell you why!” I respond. “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers. 4What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. 5You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the Lord? 6“No, 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. 7Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. 8“Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. 9Then when you call, the Lord will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors! 10Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. 11The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. 12Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes. 13“Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. 14Then the Lord will be your delight. I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob. I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 14:25:07 +0000
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