“Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.
“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?”
Fasting is a subject many Christians hear all the time and quickly pass off because they think, “I see no reason for not eating for days on end!” Interestingly enough, Isaiah writes down a version of fasting I believe not too many people understand. Chapter 58 is all about fasting.
The Lord starts chapter 58 with a cross section of what the people are doing. All the people look like they are eager to know God’s ways and seek Him day after day. They ask the Lord for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near to them (vs.2). Now the human part comes into play. Verse 3 reveals what hungry people do, they complain and say, “Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?” We can all get a little cranky when we have not eaten in a while. What is the end result? “you cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high”! Wow, all that for nothing they say.
God lets us in on a little nugget of fasting I didn’t know existed. That is fasting from our own selfish behavior. You mean fasting may not have anything to do with food? That is right. Verse 7 reads, “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.” We all need to fast from our own selfish behavior. Right after this nugget, the Lord says “Then…” “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. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here I am.” (vs.8-9). All that just by checking our selfish ways at the door.
Today, I call you to fast from your selfish behavior and to start doing verse 7 instead of saying someone else will do it. This kind of fast can happen more often than going without food or skipping certain items to eat for a period of time. Yes, by doing this, your heart begins to change and before you know it, you will starting believing what Paul said in Acts 20:35, ” In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Prayer: Father, I pray that I stay strong in fasting from my own selfish motives. I pray that I remain steadfast to your calling and your direction, putting aside personal issues and reaching out to an active member of God’s army. I pray that my heart will be changed to fully understand that it is better to give than to receive. In Jesus name, amen.
Let It Go 
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