When we practice the Isaiah Fast (Isaiah 58:5-7) there is a great promise of blessing. Of course, this was first a promise for national Israel, but this and other passages promise blessing to those who practice mercy, justice and hospitality for those who need it. God’s love and mercy leans in grace toward the needy. Those who have this godly quality in their lives have the promise that God will lean toward them in special blessing. “Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again” (Ecclesiastes 11:1 NIV).
Isaiah 58:8-11 (NIV)
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 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 night will become like the noonday.
11 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.
*Final thought on the Isaiah fast. Look at Christlikeness in the Isaiah fast and confess the gap between you and it. We must not only confess this gap, but by the grace of God we must close this gap.
