I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Isaiah 57-59.

    Today’s passage begins with a condemnation of those who mock believers as credulous fools while themselves believing in many implausible things. I remember a comedian who made a name for himself by mocking Christians as gullible and believing incredulous things. It turned out that he himself was willing to believe the incredulous, as long as those making the claims did not believe in God. In my experience, those who most emphatically do not believe in God are often the most gullible when it comes to other claims. However, perhaps even more relevant to how today’s passage starts are the people who spend their lives looking for spiritual fulfillment. Often times, they started their search for spiritual fulfillment by rejecting Christianity without ever actually learning what Jesus taught. Despite the fact that people often rejected God without ever listening to what He had to offer, if they accept it from Him, He will heal them.

    Worse than those who pursue other gods rather than worshiping the one true God are those who go through the motions in order to appear righteous. They worship God in order to advance their own interests, not to serve Him. God does not want our worship to be about going through the motions or performing the correct rituals. God wants us to treat our fellow man well and care for those in need. In many ways what Isaiah is talking about here reminds me of those who practice “Prosperity Gospel”, who think that being a Christian is a way to become prosperous. Serving God is not about what is in it for me. The benefit of serving God is doing good for others. Perhaps the part of this which strikes closest to home for me is Isaiah’s command to keep the Sabbath Day holy. Isaiah tells us not to pursue our own interests on that day, but we should still enjoy it. I do not believe that the Sabbath Day must be celebrated on either the 7th day of the week, as Jews generally do, or on the 1st day of the week as Christians generally do. However, I do believe that we should set aside one day a week to dedicate to God. That does not mean that we need to spend the whole day at worship services, or reading the Bible, but it does mean that we should not spend time on that day doing things we just did not get to on another day.