A Day Acceptable to the Lord? Or a Lifetime?

5 ...Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

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.

This was a part of my reading tonight from Isaiah 58. It reminded me of some of the thoughts I shared the other day: the purpose of this fast is not just so I can say that I spent 3 weeks living in accordance with what the Lord would deem acceptable. It is to sacrifice my life and my desires for God and to hear what He wants me to do for Him which is to "loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free", to feed the hungry, shelter the poor, and clothe the naked. Once we learn to do all of those things, "then [our] light will break forth like the dawn, and [our] healing will quickly appear; then [our] righteousness will go before [us], and the glory of the Lord will be [our] rear guard".