A True Fast

Please note the next lesson will come September 12.
Read Isaiah 58
 
Isaiah 58:5-6, 11-12 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? 6 Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loosen the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? …  11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. 12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
 
IF you recall when we began to study Isaiah, we were reminded that this book is seen as a summary of the entire Bible – even its 66 chapters reflect the Bible’s 66 books. Some passages are parallel to Jesus birth. Isaiah 53 is a clear foretelling of Jesus’ suffering and resurrection. Others remind us of Jesus’ Second Coming and the fulfillment of a new heaven and earth. And here we examine Isaiah 58 to discover it goes well with the epistle of James – and much of Jesus’ teachings of true faith.
   God clearly, repeatedly from Cain’s lackluster worship in Genesis 4 to Revelation’s lukewarm, watered-down churches, condemns false worship. He chided Israel for their self-centered, even antagonistic fasts. Israel practiced their religion, but they had no heart for it. Their fasting was an outward sign to the world, “We follow the LORD God.” But to God it was a lie. They rejected the care for the poor to become bittern toward each other.
   Isaiah proclaims that true fasting is to release people from physical and spiritual oppression. Care for the hungry, homeless, widows and the oppressed is to be done with the fasts as a true act of worship. James says it this way: 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
   What point is there to go to church, to believe in God, to pray, to read the Bible and to confess Christ if this does not transform your mind, your hands and your feet to be as Christ? As did Cain, In one way or another, we all find a reason to turn our face “downcast” and reject true worship. We can easily put a shield of false righteousness around ourselves to say, “This is my preference, my belief, my understanding.” We must be careful, “My way.” does not violate the Bible.
   True religion - true faith – leads to God’s blessings. Faith rebuilds what has been destroyed and forgotten. Faith leads to healing and love for one another. Faith restores lost relationships and transforms broken hearts. Faithful religion leads us to love God and to love one another, eager to humbly serve.