Word for the Day December 8

By:  Evang. Cascille Hammack

Isaiah 58: 6-9, "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 them, 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 am I."

Day after day Judah was seeking God as though they desired to know His ways.  What God saw was their hypocrisy and sin.  Outwardly, they were fasting and praying and then complaining that God would not help them.  His answer that came through His prophet Isaiah revealed to them what was inside of their hearts.  He pointed to the sin in their lives: unjust actions and turning away from the oppressed.  They were not reaching out to help the poor and were even turning away from their own flesh and blood.  They were not even helping their own flesh and blood who were in need, yet were praying and fasting and getting upset that God was not listening to them.  Fasting and praying must be accompanied by love, love for God and for others.  God said their worship and fasting were hypocritical. He told them that no form of prayer has any value to Him if it does not come from a heart that is humble before Him, obeys Him and compassionately reaches out to those in need. But when this is present, then God will answer with His help, strength, fruitfulness, revival and restoration.

When there is a true love for God and sincere love and concern for the welfare of others, His promise continues in Isaiah 58:11, "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 waters never fail."