What God Asks of Us! Part three

A comment about the Isaiah 58 came from a curious mind.  

“It seems like it is an awful lot of work to be right for God.  It seems like it takes a lot of work to get God’s attention or acceptance.”

I invite you to take a another look at Isaiah 58 below.  You will fine two words, I would like you to focus on, "If" and "then." 

According to Isaiah it does take a lot of work to be one of God’s people.  

    

The “work” is:  To surrender godship  The “work” is:  To worship only one God.  The “work” is:

                                   Admission of neediness!

Admission of lack of wisdom!

The “work” is the admission that there is One more powerful, more wise, more capable than you and I.

It is “work” because surrender of power is extremely — extremely — difficult work for our human egos.  It brings us to our spiritual knees in worship, awe and amazement.

 Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself?

So Yes, the conditions for salvation are work; in the most spiritual way.  

Not pointing fingers of Judgment!  

    Ceasing to speak evil gossip about another!

        Attending to the poor, homeless and hungry!

            No more pursuing our own interests at other’s expense.

Just following God’s Great Commandment!  By putting God and God’s ways first!

"Then," Isaiah says!  Then "if" you do that, you will be a hard working child of God.

Here is the key!   

“If” our heart is not on God!  "If" we do what we do simply to impress!  "Then" our doing is for naught.  

“Then” our impressing is only empressive to our neighbor.  Not to God!

In my understanding, God neither asks for, nor needs, to be impressed.  God wants us to acknowledge him as God.  God already knows that we can do all those good works.  After all, God made us quite capable beings.

God want us to ‘do’ because in the doing we honor him.  ‘Doing" because God created us to do!  Because, what honors God is honoring his creation.  Taking care of, being careful with, his creation.  Showing compassion and gentleness to our environment, and our sisters and brothers, “in his name.”  Not our own name!

Our doing then stems from our gratitude for what God has already done for us, and in us.  The very source of our doing.

God asks us to surrender the glory!  The credit!

How many of us don’t think that is hard work?

What we fail to remember is that when God asks of us! God gives us the ability, the heart, to do this work.  

We surrender!  God provide the source of energy and attitude to do it!

It is as easy as that! 

The Muslim Quran has this line to explain how we react to God’s activity in our lives:

“There was a chance for you to be grateful.”        

       Or, “There was a chance for you to be guided aright.” 

1 Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. 3 "Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?" Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. 4 Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high. 5 Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? 6 Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? 8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, 10 if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. 11 The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. 12 Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in. 13 If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, from pursuing your own interests on my holy day; if you call the sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, serving your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs; 14 then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of your ancestor Jacob, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(Isaiah 58)