Day 15
Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. Isaiah 58:3
My poor dog, Gracie, can’t see or hear anymore. She’s old. Now there’s a lot of clapping and stomping going on in our house to try to get her attention. She’s missing most of it.
I’ve written on this blog before on how the high light of her day is when we come home from work. When we arrive its like a rockstar has just walked into the room or a soldier coming back from war. There’s jumping and some fancy foot work that sounds a lot like tap dancing (the sound her nails make on our hard wood floors).
But now when we come home, she doesn’t hear it or see it. I could open the door to the back yard to let her in and she could be “looking” in my direction yet she sees nothing. I’m invisible. I can call her, clap, wave, and nothing. I have to walk up to her and finally she realizes its me and the tap dancing begins.
This is the point where I realize I’ve painted myself into a corner in my writing. I’m about to compare the Almighty to my dog. It doesn’t matter that DOG is GOD backwards; I realize this is in bad taste. I mean no disrespect.
Fasting is my attempt to get the attention of the Almighty. But Isaiah is speaking of an invisible fast, a silent fast that fails too gain the Father’s attention. Why?
#1 We do as we please
As the prophet Samuel said: “To obey is better than sacrifice.” Our obedience is better than any sacrifice we can offer through our fasting.
#2 We exploit our workers
How am I treating those I have authority over? Fasting is draining and can easily put us in a bad mood. Those lower on the totem pole can easily get the brunt of our bad attitude. But this can’t be.
I want my fast to be loud and visually noticeable before the Lord.
Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. Isaiah 58:3
My poor dog, Gracie, can’t see or hear anymore. She’s old. Now there’s a lot of clapping and stomping going on in our house to try to get her attention. She’s missing most of it.
I’ve written on this blog before on how the high light of her day is when we come home from work. When we arrive its like a rockstar has just walked into the room or a soldier coming back from war. There’s jumping and some fancy foot work that sounds a lot like tap dancing (the sound her nails make on our hard wood floors).
But now when we come home, she doesn’t hear it or see it. I could open the door to the back yard to let her in and she could be “looking” in my direction yet she sees nothing. I’m invisible. I can call her, clap, wave, and nothing. I have to walk up to her and finally she realizes its me and the tap dancing begins.
This is the point where I realize I’ve painted myself into a corner in my writing. I’m about to compare the Almighty to my dog. It doesn’t matter that DOG is GOD backwards; I realize this is in bad taste. I mean no disrespect.
Fasting is my attempt to get the attention of the Almighty. But Isaiah is speaking of an invisible fast, a silent fast that fails too gain the Father’s attention. Why?
#1 We do as we please
As the prophet Samuel said: “To obey is better than sacrifice.” Our obedience is better than any sacrifice we can offer through our fasting.
#2 We exploit our workers
How am I treating those I have authority over? Fasting is draining and can easily put us in a bad mood. Those lower on the totem pole can easily get the brunt of our bad attitude. But this can’t be.
I want my fast to be loud and visually noticeable before the Lord.
Comments
Post a Comment