True fasting

Xanthe Galanis

Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.  Isaiah 58:4

The ancient Jews were what we today might call a ‘religious’ people. They placed a lot of emphasis on ritual, ceremony and tradition. Their love of ceremony made them appear to be righteous to anyone who was watching (v2). However, these religious practices had become the totality of their experience; they had lost sight of the spiritual side of their relationship with God. They loved the ritual, but not God or one another!

Isaiah 58 deals primarily with just one area of the Jews’ religious practice - fasting.  The Jews undoubtedly observed the fast "correctly" with regard to the many external requirements. But notice what else was going on, they were exploiting their workers and fighting among themselves. God looked beyond the correctness of their traditions and rituals and saw the corruptness of their attitudes!

In the midst of this, Isaiah comes and tells them that their fasts are an empty ritual and do not please God at all. He goes on to explain what a true fast is, saying: “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?”  (v7). 

God wants us to be a people of action and compassion. A true fast is not just doing without, it is giving of yourself for others. A fast is to do without food so that someone else may eat. It is to wearing worn out clothing so that you may give your best clothes to someone who has no clothing. It is to open your door to strangers and share your home with them who have no place to live. It is to make yourself available to friends and relatives even when you do not want to.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for the times I fall into the traps of simply following the traditions of religion. Help me to live out your love in the way I treat others. Amen