Once again the LORD reminds us that Lent is not an inward turn. It is concerned with loving our neighbor.
If you remove from your midst oppression,
false accusation and malicious speech;
If you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday;
Then the LORD will guide you always
and give you plenty even on the parched land.
Even more essentially it is concerned with giving the LORD first place in our lives, especially on the day he has claimed as his own.
If you hold back your foot on the sabbath
from following your own pursuits on my holy day;
...
Then you shall delight in the LORD,
and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father,
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
The former is a prerequisite to the latter for the only way to get beyond our selfishness is through God's grace. None of us do this perfectly. Most of us don't even do it well. But we need not fear, because the LORD is forgiving.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
It is for our sakes of sinners that Jesus came, so we can rejoice rather than be afraid:
“Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”
He has such wonderful plans for us. If we can lay down our own projects for our lives and take up his instead we can know his joy in all fullness.
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