Jonathan on 040405

Scripture
Isaiah 57,58
v6-14
Is this not 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 him,
and not turn away from your own flesh and blood?
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 am I.

If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will become like the noonday.
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 water never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called repaired of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

I you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the Lord’s day honourable,
and if you honour it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
the you will find your joy in the Lord,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.

Observation
This passage from Isaiah is officially just 8 verses long but it says so much more. The words come from God at a time when a primitive Israel is engrossed with her idolatry and superstitious beliefs. They persist in their worship of false gods.

Those who do seem to seek God are actually just putting on a show. They make a big deal of their fast before God, expecting him to respond to their half-hearted efforts at pleasing him while not realising that the rest of their lives are characterised by exploitation, quarrelling, strife and violence.

God sets out a paradigm shift from verse 6 onwards, to reinspire the people of Israel.

Application
When it comes to loving God, worshipping Him and doing his work here on earth, there is a line every person needs to cross. I may be living well and faithfully, but I want to live the kind of life that is described here; I want to live the kind of life where God, his glory, his voice and his reward are totally evident in my life. I feel like my efforts are falling just short of a complete breakthrough.

I believe it has something to with the way I spend my Sabbath, my times of rest.

Prayer
Dear God, thank you for today, a precious day off. But God for today, and all the free-time I get, I don’t want the Sabbath to be for me; let it be your Sabbath dear Lord. Use my moments of quietness to rediscover my joy in you.
God I know you are real but my heart continues to desire greater evidence of you, at work in my world and my life. Help me to seek and do your will that all may see your glory. May my paltry acts of service pale in comparison with the shining face of the Almighty breaking through the darkness of this world.
In the name of Christ who achieved all these things I pray, Amen.