In Isaiah 58 God lays out the details of a fast He has chosen, which entails a lot more than just abstaining from food or some other pleasure and luxury; the fast that meets God’s approval will be followed by deeds of His heart in service and ministry to others! What I see here is God detailing through the prophet a people that had a religion; yet they were only going through the motions of being His covenant people, of seeking Him, of taking great delight in learning His ordinances, and going through the external forms, without having an intimate relationship with Him. Apparently their actions in going through all these religious forms were but a show and in self interest, trying to sooth their conscience, yet failing to live and treat other people as God demanded that they do! Another thing I see here a similarity to the Scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23:23 whom Jesus called hypocrites because they meticulously kept certain parts of the law while failing to comply with others in the spirit of the law. The Bible says if we fail in one point we are guilty of failing in all, James 2:10. What God desires of us is more than performing the rituals of religion through external forms, rather it is for our actions to be inspired from within, cf. Isaiah 1:13-20, which requires a new heart and a new spirit, which only He can give, see Ezekiel 36:26. Also the Bible says “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” Galatians 5:25. What I see here that if we profess to be God’s people our daily life and activities must align with His word; that our confession and actions must be in coordination with each other, coming from that new heart and spirit, seasoned with love; this is what is acceptable with God; He is not about outward show and religious forms, His heart is “where the rubber meets the road”!
Spiritual renewal
By Rose Hill
Jesus makes our heart and spirit new,
Then minister to others is what we’ll do
He is not pleased with an outward show,
Living in the Spirit is the way to go.
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version copyright …1982 by Thomas Nelson Co. used by permission.