Contemplative Bible Reading

Isaiah 58:6-7 (New Living Translation)

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.
7 Share 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.

The 16-hour fast, the one-day-a-week fast. Lots of fasting being promoted these days to reduce weight and all that.

Let’s pause a moment and notice the kind of fasting God wants: give up some of my silly little self-pleasing power. Stop abusing people. Stop being so greedy.

It isn’t easy for us in the 21st (aren’t we advanced and wonderful) century to think about the list from Isaiah. We live in America, land of the free, home of the brave, Google anything, text me, excuse me don’t you see that I looking at my $1,000 telephone?

Are you on the right or left politically? Sorry, but there is plenty here to condemn all sides and everyone who claims to be in between.

This is real fasting. This is yet another reminder of how I fall short of the glory of God daily and how I need to pray, “Please God, help me with my unbelief.”