“Why have we fasted, they say, and You do not see it? Why have we afflicted ourselves, and You take no knowledge [of it]? Behold [O Israel], on the day of your fast [when you should be grieving for your sins], you find profit in your business, and [instead of stopping all work, as the law implies you and your workmen should do] you extort from your hired servants a full amount of labor. [The facts are that] you fast only for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness. Fasting as you do today will not cause your voice to be heard on high.” Isaiah 58:3-4 ->me: Today was one of those days where sat in front of the Lord’s word and wondered what I was going to get out of it (I had read ahead earlier and was questioning what I was supposed to pull from it). Hear all of my language in that last sentence??? “what I was going to get out of it” and “what I was supposed to pull from it”. I bowed my head (as I always do before reading the Holy Word) and asked the Lord to forgive my unconfessed sin and to help me see what He wanted to show me today. Well, He answered. This passage (Isaiah 58:1-5) is all about God calling attention to the fact that the Israelites have an outward representation of seeking God and worshipping Him but in all reality they were going through the motions (the mechanics) of the Law without a heart focused on Him – they instead had a heart focused on themselves and what God would do for them when they played Simon Says with Him. When I read the passage just to see what ‘I was going to get out it’ nothing jumped out, but when I prayed and asked the Lord to reveal His truth so that I could get to know Him better, He opened my eyes to see the truth behind this passage and the application I should apply in my own life as a dedication to Him alone. HE is my focus…I am not my focus.
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