Devotion:
Read Isaiah 58:6-11.
In the first verses of this chapter, Isaiah describes how the people of Israel had not followed God in their hearts. They fast, but even during their times of fasting, they exploit their workers, they quarrel, and they are even violent with one another. Their fasting is a formality, a show, and it is not acceptable to God. Our verses for today describe what does please God in fasting – freeing the oppressed, feeding the hungry, and providing shelter and clothing for the poor. God blesses this kind of fasting and the one who fasts in these ways.
We can read this “fasting” also as worship, and in this we see the contrast between shallow worship and authentic, God-seeking, life-changing worship. This has nothing to do with which songs or hymns we sing or the style of worship, and it really goes beyond what we even think of as corporate worship. It is worship that includes our daily lives, every day, and how we treat others. When we live out God’s call to love others and extend God’s love to them, we are blessed. Much more than being blessed by earthly riches and prosperity, we are blessed by really knowing God and receiving God’s guidance.
Personal Worship Option:
Please pray with me, “Almighty God, help me to live in worship of you every day of my life, seeking to know and do your will. Help me to love and serve others, not for attention or even out of a sense of duty. Correct me when I slip and bring me closer and closer to you. Amen!”
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