Free to Serve

You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind.  You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes.  Is this what you call fasting?  Do you really think this will please the Lord?  This is the kind of fasting I want:  Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you.  Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people.  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. Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal.  Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.  Then when you call, the Lord will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.  Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.  Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!  Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.   (Isaiah 58:5-10 NLT)  

On this Ash Wednesday, as I consider what I should "give up" so that I can cling to the Lord more, I keep coming back to these words in Isaiah.  Ashes and sackcloth meant nothing to the Lord if a person was only "going through the motions".  Words that cut to the quick, honestly.  Sometimes I catch myself going through the motions.  Spiritual disciplines become mundane and something I do just because I should.  God is more like a genie in a bottle instead of my Abba Father.  Clearly, heartless sacrifice means nothing to the Lord. 

A couple of years ago, I read a book that touched my heart deeply.  It was the story of Harriett Tubman, or "Moses" as they called her.   After gaining her own freedom, she chose to return back to the land of slavery so that she could lead others to freedom.  She never viewed her freedom as an opportunity to serve herself.  She knew she'd been set free to serve others.  Free to serve.  It's the way I want to live my life.  During Lent this year, I don't want to simply go through the motions.  I want to stand in this freedom that Jesus has given me and be more intentional when it comes to serving others.  May the truth that I have been set free to serve run deep within my heart, and may the call to lead others to freedom not be silenced. 


For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.  (Galatians 5:13 ESV)