“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice… Is it not to share your food with the hungry?”Isaiah 58:6–7
Hungry for What?
The fasting motives game: God-ward, show-off, or just a diet with a Bible verse attached?
In Isaiah 58, God’s people complained: “We fasted, and You didn’t notice!” God’s answer was blunt: you fast, then you fight, exploit your workers and ignore the hungry. In Matthew 6, Jesus warned about people who fast with a gloomy face so everyone can see. Fasting has always been easy to do for the wrong reasons. Sort the motives, walk through real fasting moments, and meet the people in Scripture who fasted well.
Built on Isaiah 58, Matthew 4:1–4, 6:16–18 and 9:14–15, Luke 18:9–14, Joel 2:12–13, Esther 4:16, Daniel 9:3 and 10:2–3, Nehemiah 1:4, 2 Samuel 12:16–23, Luke 2:36–37 and Acts 13:2–3.
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