I was slightly amused by what the verse found in Isaiah 58:7 said, “Share your food with the hungry and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, AND DO NOT HIDE FROM RELATIVES WHO NEED YOUR HELP”[emphasis mine]
I‘m slightly amused because I can relate so much to this verse, especially the part I emphasized. You see, I and my wife always try to help our immediate relatives. These relatives are people we really love. But then, it gets to a point when giving out help to these loved ones can get tiring and exhausting. I’m referring to my wallet. And no, we have not yet gone to the point that we hid from our relatives.
As I said, we love these people and it is hard to say “no” to them, and we know that they really need help. When we give to them, a lot of times, we give them money that we intend to use ourselves. We sacrifice a lot of times and just have faith in God that as we provide for the needs of others, He will continue to bless us so that we may continually be a blessing to others.
And as I encountered this scripture, I found that these verses are part of a broader message: the kind if fasting that God wants, ergo, worship, can be found in the preceding verses starting from the second half of verse 3. It talked about fasting and the kind of fasting where God is honored. And in verse 6 of Isaiah 58, God states that kind of fasting that He wants: free those who are wrongly imprisoned, lighten the burden of your workers, letting the oppressed, etc. And when you look at the last part of verse 7, it states there that helping your relatives in their time of need is also an act of worship to our God.
Praise God! When we help our relatives, it is not in vain. We are worshipping Jesus! It is part of the true kind of worship to God. If you go through the following verses, it states there our reward for doing the kind of fasting or worship that God wants: salvation, wounds healing quickly, the protection provided by God and the best part, when you ask God, He will quickly answer.
God is good! Let us continue to help our relatives, people that God has made us in association with. Let us not see them as a burden but view them as an opportunity to worship God for as we do this, we can expect something goof from God because He has spoken these words.
