Get Real November 16 Devotional
November 16, 2024
ISAIAH 58:3-5 | 3 "Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?" Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. 4 Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high. 5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
Fasting has a long religious history. It is a practice designed to remind us of our vulnerability, mortality, and dependence on God. It is a discipline designed to help us master our appetites and desires so that we can control our urges rather than be controlled by them. Foregoing food, we make room for prayer. Jesus fasted on occasion but insisted that we “don’t live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” We draw energy from food, but all matter is itself a form of energy, and all energy comes from the God who creates with His word.
The prophet criticized his compatriots as Jesus later did as well, for making a public show of their fasting, by covering their faces in ash marks and dressing down. But this concern for outward piety contrasted with a lack of concern for employees and neighbors. Oppressing workers and sucker-punching friends makes all your worship unworthy.
Have you ever fasted?
Notice the irony. The Israelites think God is ignoring them when, in fact, He sees all their impieties. Does God’s knowledge of you make you uneasy or glad?
