Luke 18:12 (NIV) - “I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”

As first look, these acts by the Pharisee seem commendable. Yet, we see he is setting forth his own qualifications for righteousness. The acts of fasting and giving gave him a sense of being spiritual, being obedient, being faithful all the while having a heart full of himself and judgmental towards those who did not do as he did.

Isaiah 58:3-9 - “‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ ‘Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? “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? 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? 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. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.’”

When we fast, when we give, when we pray, when we engage in all acts meant for the worship of God, know that it is as much about the heart as it is about the action. The outer forms do not excuse or cover up for what is lacking in the inner person. When we fast, there is power to be experienced for ourselves and others that leads to freedom and transformation. When we give, there is to be thankfulness, mercy and greater joy. When we pray, healing and the answers of God come into our lives.

Let’s not do righteous acts to prove anything to ourselves or others. Let’s engage in righteous acts because we’re simply coming before God to say, here am I. We do the essentials because God promises us when we come humbly and sincerely, he will meet us there and say, “Here am I.”

-AK