Isaiah 58:3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.

My mom recently went to the Department of Motor Vehicles to get a license renewal. The office opened about twenty minutes late. When the DMV opened their doors there was a monstrous line running down the sidewalk. A couple employees of the DMV came out and made an impromptu announcement. “Hey, if you are getting your license, form a line over here. If you are here for something else, form a line over there.” Chaos ensued. Inside there seemed to be too few chairs, too many people, and not enough time.
Do you like to waste your time? Would you like to spend your whole day at the DMV? Do you like to waste your time in any way? The answer is probably “no”! None of us likes to waste time. But that is exactly what God’s people were doing. They were keeping the law of God in many ways. They delighted to know God’s ways. They “forsook not the ordinance of their God.” They kept the law. They asked of God the “ordinances of justice.” They took “delight in approaching to God.” In other word, they were very religious people, but they were wasting their time because God was not taking note.
They asked God, “Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not?” They were saying, “God, why don’t you pay attention to what we are doing?” God’s answer was, “Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exact of all your labours.” These people were at the same time fasting and feasting. That is not consistent.
In verse 4 God said, “Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness.” Can people do good things for bad reasons? Could I preach a sermon for the wrong reason? Could I preach out of greed, envy, or pride? Yes! If you read Paul’s words in I Corinthians, you find that there were people in his day that did exactly that.
But none of us wants to waste time, and the worst place to waste time is in church or in the service of God when there is no heart to it. It is not either/ or. Either serve God or do right by people. It is both/and. But God’s point is “don’t waste your time,” and there are two things I think He would have us to know.
First, your religion is no good if it is no good to God. God later says, “And shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will…,” then he tells of the blessing they will have if they do that.
There were people keeping the fasts and feasts, but they were doing it their own ways for their own pleasure with their own words. It wasn’t religion that was pleasing God. Your religion is no good if it is no good to God.
Second, your religion is no good to God if it is no help to people. God indicated that His people were to loose the “bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and let the oppressed go free…” Their reverence of God was to result in their love of others.
James 1 says that true, undefiled religion is to do right by the widows and orphans. In short, when I am doing right by God it will result in my doing right by people. I help others because I serve God. Your religion is not impressive to God if it is not manifesting itself in showing Him to other people.
Life is precious, the day is short. Don’t waste your time.

Share This