The Lord's Fasting

​“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
​​To loose the bonds of wickedness,
​​To undo the heavy burdens,
​​To let the oppressed go free,
​​And that you break every yoke?" Isaiah 58:6

Breakfast was on my mind this morning, as it often is in the morning, so I searched for break and fast in the Bible and came up with this verse only in all of the Bible.

We have this tendency, a desire of the flesh perhaps, to present to the Lord a resume of our good deeds done religiously. We bring tales of our fasting to the Lord hoping for a trophy maybe, Fasting Champion 2018. He tells us instead to look to our neighbors. Jesus our Lord was asked why He did not fast as He was living the list of loving actions we see in the verse from Isaiah. We have His good example to follow.

In place of trying to impress the Lord with our self-righteous and religious deeds, we might do as He says and look to our neighbors. What burdens do they bear that I have overlooked in my efforts to make myself into a better man? How much of my self-improvement program would be better handled by the Lord's Holy Spirit as I take the time to look at the needs and burdens borne in suffering all around me? What help can selflessness lend where selfishness now rules?

What a reward to relieve a neighbor of a burden!

Your brother in Christ,
Bucky