Selfless

Isaiah 58:13-14

¹³ “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,
¹⁴ 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.

The Lord is really serious about the things He calls to be holy – Sabbath, fasting (in this context), our vows, our commitments, our relationship with Him, etc.

Man has a way of fulfilling the traditions or rituals according to how it’s supposed to be on the physical aspect of things – sackcloth, fasting, all of the what-the-eye-can-see parts INSTEAD of really doing it the way God wants us to – keeping our vows, doing what pleases God and not ourselves, etc.

When we fulfill the “traditions” our devotions, our fasting times, our Sabbaths, vows, etc. we need to do it that (1) we don’t break it, (2) not doing as we please or (3) going our own way and (4) speaking just random idle words.

Promise:  True selflessness results in finding joy in the Lord.

Rather, ask God WHAT DO YOU WANT OUT OF THIS “RITUAL or TRADITION?”  HOW DO YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH THAT?  WHAT MUST I DO?  And with that, just go with the flow of what God wants to do; keeping our hearts set on what is in His heart – v. 6 says “to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke” – and setting our hearts on what breaks the heart of God – to go at that and not our own agenda.

// It’s all God’s.  None of me.  All this Sabbath year, sacrifices, offerings, desires, and fulfillment of dreams are useless and futile if they are not what God wants them to be.  I know I can only find joy in the Lord if I am completely selfless – only desiring what re-aligning my heart to what God wants; not my own.

// Lord, yes, all these things are yours.  Help me to only do things, say things, act on things that are in-line with your heart and will.  I want to find true joy in You and help me to let go of my own self and just be selfless before you!  In Jesus’ name, amen.