Fasting for the Wrong Reason?
I had never heard of such a thing until a few years ago.
We often used Isaiah 58 when we taught on fasting, but I never heard anyone teach all of this. It seems we skipped over some things.
“Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness….”
Is it that we wanted to believe the best about everyone, that we seriously tried to see the good and ignore the bad?
I have a problem understanding just why so many things were either ignored or passed over when there are so many scriptures in the New Testament about being on guard against wolves in sheep’s clothing etc.
Perhaps for most of us, it just did not seem reasonable that anyone would go through the process of fasting in order to use their brand of righteousness against other people.
However, today when you look around, especially in the day of the internet, you find those who brag about how much they fast and then they present some of the most mean spirited attitudes to those who do not believe exactly as they do.
I think someone who genuinely seeks the way of the Spirit simply cannot act in such a manner. It is absolutely foreign to them.
Okay, in the Temple during the time of Christ, we did hear about those who bragged and boasted about how righteous they were. But those people did not claim to be filled with the baptism of the Holy Spirit!
Did the Apostles warn us about these kind of people being among us or not?
Are you only being judgmental if you actually see a wolf disguising himself as a sheep?
Rather than ramble on to make a point, I feel led to simply stop and have us digest this for a bit.
First published January 7, 2012
~ Robert Blackburn
Amazing.