“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and He will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, ‘here I am.’” Isaiah 58:6-9 (NKJV)
The Israelites are chronic grumblers, and murmurers; they have tried to manipulate God by afflicting themselves and calling it a fast. They continue in wonderment at God’s lack of response to their feeble attempts at fasting.
Fasting for the Israelites was a gloomy occasion at best, they put on sackcloth and went about showing others how “righteous” they were because they were “suffering for the Lord.” The verses above contain a portion of God’s instructions about how they/we, should fast. Fasting, like giving, is not a public event where we call attention to, and celebrate our own behavior; it is not to be an arduous affair either, but a joyful occasion of obedience. It is at the highest level of worship, where we honor God and show compassion and love to those less fortunate around us.
In a nutshell, true fasting, the fast that God has chosen is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37 “and the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 22:39. Without following these commands, it is impossible to fast as God wishes; we will soon fall prey to pride and self righteousness. We should, as a friend once said, “comb our hair, and wash our faces while we fast.” Be joyful as you fast; it is the Lord for whom we fast, not for ourselves, and we should “come into His house with thanksgiving in our heart, enter His courts with praise.”
Then, we are calling out to God is a manner which pleases Him, and He will answer us even before we call out, Isaiah 65:24.
