What do fasting and the Sabbath day have in common? Both involve setting aside otherwise good things in order to draw closer to God. In both cases, if we focus on what we’re giving up, we have missed the point, and we may miss the blessings.
God instructed Isaiah to correct the children of Israel’s misunderstanding about these religious practices. Their confusion was evident in the questions they were asking. “[Why] have we fasted…and thou seest not?” they asked. “[Why] have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?” (Isaiah 58:3). They were denying themselves of food, hoping that God would notice their suffering and reward them for it. But that was never the purpose of the fast.
God responded with some questions of His own:
Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?
Isaiah 58:5-7
Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
His descriptions of an inappropriate fast (in verse 5) are all about pain and suffering: afflicting one’s soul, bowing down, and sitting on ashes. But the fast isn’t supposed to be about degrading oneself. It’s supposed to be about lifting oneself and others. Verses 6 and 7 emphasize that by describing fasting in constructive terms: freeing oneself and others from bondage, giving to the needy, and welcoming refugees into your home.
Isaiah promises blessings to those who engage in constructive fasting: light, access to God, and prosperity (see Isaiah 58:8-12). He promises similar blessings to those who keep the Sabbath by not only forgoing their own favored activities but also by “call[ing] the sabbath a delight” (Isaiah 58:13-14).
The Savior taught a similar principle in the Sermon on the Mount and again at the temple in Bountiful. Condemning hypocrites who “disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast,” He said, “they have their reward.” In contrast, He instructed His disciples, “when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father, who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly” (3 Nephi 13:16-18; Matthew 6:16-18).
Like Isaiah, Jesus teaches that our attitude when we fast can neutralize its benefits. In Isaiah’s case, the unwise individual seeks divine approbation for their suffering. In Jesus’s case, they seek praise from other people. Either way, the fasting functions as a bid for attention, not for connection. In both cases, they fail to receive the rewards of fasting as worship: light, divine presence, and personal growth.
Today I will participate in personal worship activities to show my love for God and my desire to emulate Him, not to earn His praise.
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