June 26, 2025

WHY?

Isaiah 58:3-8

saying, ‘Why have we fasted, but You did not see it? Why have we humbled our souls, but You did not know it?’ Because in the days of your fasts, you seek your own wills, and mistreat those under your authority. If you fast for condemnations and quarrels, and strike a humble man with your fists, why do you fast to Me as you do today, so your voice may be heard in crying? I did not choose this fast, and such a day for a man to humble his soul; nor if you should bow your neck like a ring and spread sackcloth and ashes under yourself, could you thus call such a fast acceptable. I did not choose such a fast,” says the Lord; “rather, loose every bond of wrongdoing; untie the knots of violent dealings; cancel the debts of the oppressed; and tear apart every unjust contract. Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house. If you see a naked man, clothe him, nor shall you disregard your offspring in your own household. Then your light shall break forth as the morning, and your healing shall spring forth quickly. Your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall cover you.

Personal Challenge

Long passage today, yet so necessary in what we are seeing in our world today. So many people are proclaiming to be Christians and yet behaving worse than heathens. In Russia we have the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill proclaiming Russky Mir, the Russian World Order, as the ideology of the church and blessing the war in Ukraine. In America we have leadership brandishing crosses and the ten commandments, all the while doing things that would make Jesus flip the tables over. We also have Christian nationalism that has abandoned the truth of the Gospel. The list goes on and on. Read this passage multiple times to really understand how much God hates these false expressions of faith in Him. If we are not loving our neighbor, protecting those who cannot protect themselves, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, taking in the foreigner, then we are not living as Christians. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!