In Isaiah 58, people were complaining to God, saying that they're praying and fasting, but He's not answering their prayers. This is God's response:
"For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.
'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and You have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?'
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.
Is this the kind of fasting I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?
Is this not 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 the 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 a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
(Isaiah 58: 2-11)
WOW!
What a response, eh? God calls them out. The people in Isaiah were complaining to God, saying that they're doing this and that, but God's not answering them and doing what they want Him to do. They ask Him what's the point.
God's response to them never ceases to amaze me and convict me.
God tells them that they're just going through the motions of their faith (ex.: fasting), rather than really living it out. God tells them, that on the very day they are fasting, they're exploiting their workers and fighting with one another.
In this passage, God says that these people say they want to please God, and yet, they're not really following in His ways. They fast because they want God's help- they want Him to direct them and lead them. And yet, they do not follow what He says. They do not live out their faith.
In this passage, it is clear that God cares about the oppressed and the disadvantaged. He cares about those going through a hard time. He also cares about what we are doing: are we just going through the motions of faith (such as going to church, singing songs, etc), rather than living out our faith?
Notice, that there is a pattern of "if"s and "then"s in this passage. God says that if we help the helpless, then we will be a light in this world.
This Christmas season and in the coming new year, please remember that we are called to live out our faith. Rather than just say we love God, we must show it. Our hearts must break for what God's heart breaks for. We must do what He says. We must be good, merciful, strive for justice, live a life of integrity, and help the helpless.
It is when we live out our faith, that we will be a light in the darkness.
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