Lent: A Season of Drawing Closer to GodSample

For a Purpose

Read: Isaiah 58:3–9

SOAP: Isaiah 58:6

No, this is the kind of fast I want: I want you to remove the sinful chains, to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke, to set free the oppressed, and to break every burdensome yoke.

Into the Text

The prophet Isaiah ministered to the nation of Judah before, during, and after their exile in Babylon. The people had grown calloused to the things of God. While they were still observing some of the rituals and laws God had given them, their hearts were far from Him.

The people lamented because God did not notice them when they fasted. They thought their action of fasting was enough to turn God’s wrath away from them. But their hearts were far from God. Their motivation for fasting was not repentance but to satisfy their selfishness.

God is all about our hearts. While we may be able to submit to the discipline of fasting, what matters most is that our hearts are honest before God as we do it. When we deny ourselves food or other necessities so we can create the space to seek spiritual things and spend more time with Jesus, our hearts are in the right place.

The purpose of fasting is to deny ourselves so we can be sanctified or made more like Christ. If our fasting puffs us up and makes us feel superior, or causes others to stumble, we’re missing the point. God wants us to have humble, repentant hearts that aim to please Him as we deny ourselves.

God is not out to harm us, nor does He demand that we deny ourselves stringently or unrealistically. He cares about our hearts. A four-hour fast with our heart in the right place is more valuable to God than a forty-day fast with the wrong intentions. Let’s be a community that fasts with His intentions: to remove chains, tear away burdensome yokes, and free the oppressed.