Your incense is detestable to me.
New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations -
I cannot bear your evil assemblies.
Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts
my soul hates.
They have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them."
The very first chapter of Isaiah addresses the issue of rebellion. It's important to notice that in this passage, God is not talking to pagans who sacrifice virgins and dance around their golden idols. He's talking to His own people. The ones who do all the right religious rituals, who know Him and His word, who should more than anyone know the importance of following Him.
We all have acts of rebellion in our lives. Pastor Andy talked about how rebellion is opposed to submission. Rebellion,he said, comes out of a fear of losing control. I definitely identify with that; although I'm not a control freak as a rule, I think twice before giving up my life plan and submit to God. Even if I know what He wants, I think my way is slightly superior in a few details and rebel in my heart. This rebellion damages our relationship with God. No matter what the issue is, no matter how small it seems to you, it's really a big deal and it causes problems in our lives.
"Stop bringing meaningless offerings!"
The solution to this broken relationship with God isn't to be more religious, go to church more often, read your Bible more often, or pray a few extra times a day. It's hard for me to write that reading the Bible and praying isn't the correct solution; aren't those how we connect with God? Well yes, but that alone won't fix a broken relationship. When you are in a marriage relationship and something's broken, there's an issue of infidelity or violence or apathy, is the solution just to spend more time together? If you're married, you're probably already spending a good deal of time together! When the relationship is broken, when there's a problem that interferes with how things are supposed to work, you have to be serious and just fix the problem itself. As Pastor Andy put it, "Stop sending me roses and lets fix the relationship". Roses are nice. Outward acts of devotion are nice. But neither are going to fix a broken relationship, yes? Let prayer, reading the Bible, going to church, and worshiping God be outward evidence of your healthy relationship with Him, don't try to use them to cover up your rebelliousness that you still harbor in your life.
I don't always know whether I'm holding on to a sinful pattern or if there's something God wants me to work on at the moment, but I still want to do something as a deliberate act of submission and obedience to Him. It reminds me that every part of my life is for Him and not for me, and it builds spiritual discipline for times when I am struggling with something and need it. To that end, I am going to join people all across campus who are fasting for the next twelve days. We had a speaker at convocation a few days ago who challenged us to fast from six things for twelve days. The fast was supposed to start last night but I hadn't yet decided whether I was going to do it. Today I decided that as a deliberate stand against my own rebelliousness and act of obedience, I am going to fast from three things and engage in three daily things. The things I'm fasting from are either involving other people or just insignificant for you as a reader to know, but in case you're interested the three other things are that I will write in my prayer journal daily, set aside time to be quiet and think/relax/pray every day, and work on memorization so that by the end of the fast I will have memorized Jeremiah 29:10-14, John 15:1-15, and possibly parts of Isaiah 1.
I would encourage you to examine your own life. Are there ways in which you are rebelling, straying from God's way of life? If you are "working on" those areas, be honest with yourself and with God: Are you sending Him flowers or fixing the relationship?
If you'd like to participate in the same fast, the dates are from yesterday (Saturday, Feb. 21) to Thursday (March 5). For a week and a half, show yourself and God that you are willing to submit to Him. If you are struggling with an issue of rebellion in your life, this is a great time to give it up! Even if you're not, or you are but don't know it yet (I feel like this is me a lot of times...), sometimes just focusing on your spiritual life for a time is helpful in a lot of different ways.
May God bless all of your pursuits.
Parts of this post are based off of a sermon by Pastor Andy Addis. You can find his blog, along with his sermon series, at www.crosseyedlife.com.
