“[Rather] is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every [enslaving] yoke? Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house—when you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from [the needs of] your own flesh and blood?” Isaiah 58:6-7 ->me: What an amazing revelation of God’s expectation of us when we fast!! Why have I never heard this preached on before?? SUMMARY: Fasting is most productive and glorifying to God when we use that time withholding from ourselves to not only focus our hearts on the Lord and Him alone, but to also share with the less fortunate the things the Lord has given to us -> Food, Clothing, and Shelter. It also means taking a personal interest in intervening in the mistreatment of other souls. What does operating this way do? 1) It shows the Lord that my focus is off my own flesh and I use the pangs of hunger (during my fast) to remind myself to pray. 2) When I take what I am not eating and share it with others, I see the blessing God has given me and I my eyes are opened to the good just sharing, what God has given me, with others can do. 3) I become focused on what I can do for others and that simple act exposes the selfishness of my own flesh when I am self-absorbed with my normal daily activities prompting long term change. (I read ahead a little 🙂 ) Tomorrow I will learn what God says will happen when I fast in the way He has designed.