Only a fool

Only a fool breaks off this big chunk of scripture and decides to blog about it. I don’t know if it’s the day we spent with the down and out yesterday, or the email I received from a friend fighting for freedom from oppression or the large cups of coffee I had today but these words grabbed me and sunk in. I will not attempt to take this all apart piece by piece but I will share that these words are acting as a catalyst to sketching out a place in my heart for THIS kind of fast, this type of heart change, the fast that God has chosen. Take a deep breath and read each word slowly and assuredly

Isaiah 58:6-11

Is not this 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 to 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 I Am.

“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 rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

This is the kind of fasting that afflicts the soul. Not one that is reflected in a day without food or media but one that crushes and subdues the corrupt nature. These verses speak of a reforming of our lifestyles, not for a day but making it the business of our whole lives!

I think this is the kind of fasting our society largely believes is foolishness. Each man for themselves is the way to get ahead but clearly the word of God speaks of it differently. Free some people of injustice. Girlfriend, get out from under the oppression of the abuse you’ve endured for years. Get free from the yoke of slavery, brothers and sisters that are driven by an addiction. Break free from that, and be controlled no more. Friends, let us clothe the naked and feed the hungry, shelter those that wander.

THEN who will be the foolish one? You whose light breaks forth? You whose Glory of The Lord is guarding you? You who God hears and answers?

If that is a fool by worlds standards, let me be a fool and let God be glorified!