I have spent a lot of time in Isaiah 58 over the past few years, in a section titled, "True and False Fasting." I HIGHLY encourage you to read the whole chapter for a fuller view of God's heart. It's one of the clearest pictures I've found in Scripture of "man looks at outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" that applies to everyone who claims a belonging to God's people.
"Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail." - Isaiah 58:9-11
Today I made the connection to Acts 3:19-20 for the first time. "Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord..."
In both Old Testament and New, repentance is key. Taking away the pointing finger of accusation, the speaking of wickedness (a whole lot of instruction in the New Testament on what this looks like. Hint: he's not talking about cussing). Turning back to righteousness and justice: pouring yourself out for the hungry and afflicted. That's when the times of refreshing come. That's when you will be like a well-watered garden and your light shall rise in the darkness, and the Lord will guide you continually.
Perhaps for Lent you've decided to give up sugar, or TV, or something else that's coming between you and the Lord. Awesome. I've done that, too. It's powerful to remove something from your life, but only if the PURPOSE is to give you a hunger for more of God. Perhaps you think Lent is weird, or fake religion, or it's dumb to eat fish on Fridays. I get it. I've been there, too. If that's you, I encourage you to read Isaiah 58 and ask the Lord if there's something in that list that he wants to speak to you about in this time of heart preparation to remember His crucifixion and resurrection. I bless you to hunger and thirst for righteousness for the rest of your life, starting with these next few weeks. 🙏🏻💖
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