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eVotional: Isaiah 60:1-3

Fasting, Lent, and the Glory of God

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” Isaiah 60:1-3

When we are more devoted to loving the Lord than we are with our need to be “right”, then we are onto the heart of God. The kingdom is not about what we’re doing, as if it could save us, but rather it is about what He is doing and what He is doing through us.

We are approaching the Lent season this week. Isaiah 58:6 says that fasts are chosen in order to loosen bondages and to lift burdens. Hosea 6:6 says that God desires obedience, not sacrifice. What the prophet means is that God is interested in the sacrifice that comes from letting go of our own will and taking on a life fashioned after His will. Our fasting should be to that end: to love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds.

Kingdom work involves loosening the bands of heaviness on others, to undo those heavy burdens, to set the oppressed at ease, to break the yokes that the enemy has on us and our brethren, to hand bread to the hungry, to bring the poor into fellowship, and to clothe the naked. Helping those who cannot repay brings a reward that cannot be matched! In dark times, the people of God will be lights. The glory of the Lord shall be our reward.

A fasted life is necessary to holy empowerment. But if we have opportunity to be a blessing, that should be jumped on faster than any other ritual or tradition. What good is fasting or praying for someone who is down when we have the ability to help them? I’m referring to the Good Samaritan parable. When we have an opportunity, we should always meet the Lord where he is. And he can be found addressing needs.

We will truly be lights and the glory of the Lord will be upon us. People will come from all over to join those kinds of efforts. And when powered by zeal for the house of God and his church without walls, there are no bonds that can hold us back. Let our fasting and the Lenten season bring closeness to Him who is able to keep us from stumbling and spill over onto the lives around us.

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