Christianity

True Fasting and Pure Religion

Isaiah 58 is a chapter that discusses true fasting, and the result of that fasting. I want to share verses 6-12 and then discuss a bit below.

Isa 58:6	“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?
Isa 58:7	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?
Isa 58:8	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.
Isa 58:9	Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
Isa 58:10	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.
Isa 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.
Isa 58:12	Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

The Word of God is so prevailingly clear in wanting us to take care of people that need help. Particularly the poor, the orphaned, the hungry, the oppressed, etc. Why do you think that James tells us that pure religion is “to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world”?

I did some self-examination this morning regarding this. I believe that I do well, relatively, in keeping myself unpolluted by the world. I’m not meaning that bragadociously, as my pastor would say, but just that if you break the pure religion quote up you get two areas; take care of others and take care of yourself. Those areas are not equally balanced in my life.

This is why there is a yearning to fill a void in my life. I’ve not completed the picture, so to speak. I’ve spent the last several years working on myself, and I can see the progress that Jesus has affected in my life. However, I believe that none of us can ever reach that 100x Christian that Jesus speaks of if we don’t seriously consider the other side of pure religion; to visit the fatherless and the widows in their distress.

To take it further, I don’t believe that it stops with only the fatherless and widows. There are many passages in the Word that talk about helping people, such as that above, that use more groups, so I’m going to assume that it is a general concept. We need to take care of people. And just as the title of an earlier poem of mine says, this is a message to myself.

© 2008 Baba’s Blog.