{"id":9967,"date":"2024-03-18T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-18T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/?p=9967"},"modified":"2024-02-28T17:36:10","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T22:36:10","slug":"9967","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2024\/03\/18\/9967\/","title":{"rendered":"Pointless Fasting"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two-minute read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201c\u2018Why have we fasted,\u2019 they say, \u2018and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?\u2019 \u201cYet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Isaiah 58:3-7<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pointless fasting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Living in disobedience, the people acted like they wanted to do God\u2019s will, using fasting to show their earnestness. Obeying God came second to continuing their rebellious lifestyle; the people thought if they went through the motions of fasting, the Lord would let them continue doing what they wanted. Isaiah exposes their hypocrisy by pointing out their fasting didn\u2019t come from a place of spiritual motivation. Fasting out of a sense of duty doesn\u2019t produce fruitful prayers but causes irritability. The people made their laborers work harder, taking their foul moods out on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trying to manipulate God doesn\u2019t work. As we learned with Ahab, you can\u2019t fool the Lord with half-hearted fasts meant only to gain your desires. Our Creator knows everything about us, including the motivations behind our actions. God didn\u2019t put us on Earth to serve ourselves and meet our fleshly desires. Earnest and sincere fasting and prayer bring the Lord\u2019s blessings, but half-hearted attempts don\u2019t work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but\u00a0because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. <\/em>For\u00a0godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas\u00a0worldly grief produces death.\u201d 2 Cor. 7:9-10<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

God wants repentant hearts that produce a godly grief. Repentance means \u201csorrow for anything done or said; the pain or grief which a person experiences in consequences of the injury or inconvenience produced by his own conduct.\u201d<\/em>[1]<\/strong><\/em><\/a>Recognizing and acknowledging our disobedience, then confessing it to the Lord, leads to receiving God\u2019s saving grace and eternal life.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to the house of Jacob, Isaiah pointed out their insincerity and why they didn\u2019t receive an answer from the Lord.\u00a0 God only listens to sincere hearts, filled with repentance, humbled before Him, that genuinely desire to align themselves with His will. When we come to the Lord with humility, He listens and answers. But foolish attempts to manipulate the Lord go unheard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t kid a kidder; don\u2019t try to pull one over on the Lord.\u00a0 God knows our hearts better than we do. Humbling ourselves before Him and seeking His will transforms our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Journal Questions:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n