We are still in Chapter 58 where the Lord talks about what "true religion" is. It's not simply going through the motions. It's not calling on the Lord only when we are in trouble. It's a right relationship with the Lord and with our fellow man. If a person loves the Lord, a person will do a better job of loving other human beings; therefore, a person will do a better job of obeying the Lord and of doing good to others.
The Lord says: "If you do away with the yoke of oppression and the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your light will become like the noonday." (Isaiah 58:9b-10)
The Lord doesn't tell most people to get rid of everything we have in order to serve the poor and that's not what He's saying in the text above. The only person the Lord Jesus Christ told to give up everything was a man whose wealth was his god. That man's wealth was standing between him and salvation. But if we have more than we need, there is no reason why we can't give some contributions to programs that help the hungry. And even if we don't have much extra, perhaps we can devote some time instead. In the verses above, many of Isaiah's fellow citizens had no concern for the hungry beggars among them. They weren't donating to them. They weren't giving time to serve them. They were living comfortable lives with enough leisure time to have time to gossip about others. They were pointing at the sins of others without acknowledging their own mistakes.
If the people get back to the basics of their religion and form a personal relationship with the Lord, they will naturally care about others. As the Lord Jesus Christ said, the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love others. (Matthew 22:37-40) If our relationship with the Lord isn't right, our relationship with others won't be right. If we don't love the Lord, we can't love others the way we are supposed to love them.
If people will heed the Lord's words and get right with Him, which will naturally help them to treat their fellow man right, He will bless them abundantly. "The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings." (Isaiah 58:11-12)
"If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken." (Isaiah 58:13-14) Obeying the Lord should be a delight to us. When we love someone, we want to do things that please them, don't we? If we love someone, we want to spend time with them. The Lord commanded a day in which we are to focus on Him and commune with Him. It's not too much to ask that we attend a worship service or spend some quiet time in Bible study and in prayer and meditation.
In this whole chapter the Lord is not asking too much of us. We should love and honor Him because He loves us so much that He was willing to do anything it took in order to offer us a means of salvation. In addition to that, He supplies our needs and comforts us and strengthens us and guides us. How can we not love Him? And if our love for Him is real, we can love others. After all, didn't Jesus die for everyone? Jesus thought our fellow man was worth dying for, just as He thought you and I were worth dying for. If He found value in them then we should as well. He's not asking us to like everyone but to value them as human beings who have eternal souls. We can care about the destiny of their eternal souls without necessarily agreeing with them or having much in common with them.
If we love the Lord and love our fellow human beings, the Lord promises to hear our prayers and to help us through our difficulties in this fallen world. He never breaks a promise, which is why He ends our chapter by saying, "The mouth of the Lord has spoken." When He says something, it can be counted on.
No comments:
Post a Comment