ISAIAH 58

True and False Worship

58

¹ “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.

Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.

Tell my people Israel of their sins!

²Yet they act so pious!

They come to the Temple every day

and seem delighted to learn all about me.

They act like a righteous nation

that would never abandon the laws of its God.

They ask me to take action on their behalf,

pretending they want to be near me.

³‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.

‘Why aren’t you impressed?

We have been very hard on ourselves,

and you don’t even notice it!’

“I will tell you why!” I respond.

“It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.

Even while you fast,

you keep oppressing your workers.

⁴What good is fasting

when you keep on fighting and quarreling?

This kind of fasting

will never get you anywhere with me.

⁵You humble yourselves

by going through the motions of penance,

bowing your heads

like reeds bending in the wind.

You dress in burlap

and cover yourselves with ashes.

Is this what you call fasting?

Do you really think this will please the Lord?

⁶“No, this is the kind of fasting I want:

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;

lighten the burden of those who work for you.

Let the oppressed go free,

and remove the chains that bind people.

⁷Share your food with the hungry,

and give shelter to the homeless.

Give clothes to those who need them,

and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

⁸“Then your salvation will come like the dawn,

and your wounds will quickly heal.

Your godliness will lead you forward,

and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.

⁹Then when you call, the Lord will answer.

‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.

“Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.

Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!

¹⁰Feed the hungry,

and help those in trouble.

Then your light will shine out from the darkness,

and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.

¹¹The Lord will guide you continually,

giving you water when you are dry

and restoring your strength.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like an ever-flowing spring.

¹²Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.

Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls

and a restorer of homes.

¹³“Keep the Sabbath day holy.

Don’t pursue your own interests on that day,

but enjoy the Sabbath

and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day.

Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day,

and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.

¹⁴Then the Lord will be your delight.

I will give you great honor

and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob.

I, the Lord, have spoken!”

ETERNAL PLANS

...He (God) has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end.

ECCL. 3:11

...How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

ROM. 11:33

A friend from my junior high/high school church youth group died yesterday after a two year battle with cancer, leaving behind two kids not quite in high school yet. She was a single mom which made these last few years even more difficult, though her immediate family provided her great care and comfort. I have an internal tendency to put myself in that person's situation, and that is when I grieve.  On the one hand, I recognize the fact that we live in a world marred by sin, that everything is in ruin and disrepair, and the outlook isn't too bright. Like Solomon, I look around when things like this happen and find things meaningless, a chasing after the wind. Yeah, there's a time for eveything, it just seems the times of bad can outway the good. I think he and I would have gotten along well, but I think we'd bring each other down all the time too.

And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste

of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering...

...But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.

And I am convinved that nothing can separate us from God's love...niether our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow.

ROM 8: 23,25,38



After leaving high school, I hadn't talked with my friend for 20 years, but Facebook put us back in touch, which I am so grateful for. It wasn't long after reconnecting that she got a prognosis of colon cancer, and thus started a two year journey in which she fought courageously, always confident of God's healing, praying for the best outcome. In her last post on Facebook, three days before her death, she eluded to the second half of Romans 8, and the great messages it holds. I'm reminded that in this life, we will still groan and suffer, seeking relief to be free from the sadness. But I am to rest in a God that loves me, who has adopted me, and will someday give me rest from this life that is full of suffering.While acknowleding my sadness, questions, and "groanings", I need to rest in the love of someone who has a plan and is working it out for the final good. I don't quite understand his plan for my friend, nor his plan for me, but once my full rights of adoption are complete, I will understand this moment in time. I must be patient and remain confident as my friend was, whose adoption process is complete, and is now home.

RESOLUTIONS

I had a friend whose goal was to blog something everyday for one year. Hearing that I thought no problem; now, having a blog for several years, I believe that would be near difficult for me. But it will be one of my resolutions this year to blog at least once a month. I like reading blogs that are creative, and as such, one of my goals for my little piece of cyber-space, has been to do something that is creative as well. However, I've learned that I can have moments of creativity, but it only comes at moments when I least expect it, or am looking for it. It's like my habit of reading, which goes in spurts. I will read or listen to books on audio for a month, then not touch a book for a month or two (not good for a guy who sells books). I blame my strong non type-A personality on this.

Resolutions take discipline, which I do not have, but if I put them up here, maybe I can look back in a year and see real progress. For me, resolutions are also hopes, something to look forward to even though it may not happen. I'm driven that way, it helps relieve the daily grind sometimes. I think the following list reflects both ideas of what a resolution is to me. A few of these I already do, but want to take it to the next step.

By years end, I hope to:

1. Exercise 5 days a week
2. Drop 10 lbs.
3. Read the Bible through in a year
4. Read one non-fiction title a month
5. Read through R.T. Kendall's Sermon on the Mount
6. Have put together a photographic themed project
7. Be a better salesman
8. Be in a position of leadership
9. Taken a trip out of the country
10. Visit somewhere west of Nebraska