Set the Captives Free

“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? Isaiah 58:6

Lent begins today, a time of fasting. I appreciate this yearly call to regroup and discipline myself. What's missing sugar compared to what Jesus did for us? And every time I'm tempted to whine, which is often, I try to remember that. Easter dawns with great joy after a season of deprivation, and hopefully my spirit soars with more than just Easter candy.

This year besides the deprivations I will impose on myself, I hope to write a daily blog, even if brief, documenting God's work. I'm calling it 40 Days of Wonder.

God has no trouble supplying me with material, I already have enough for days. On this day of Ash Wednesday, with verses like the above in mind, I met with someone who had been captive to a lie of the enemy most of her life. Jesus with his still small voice spoke truth to her and set her free. 

I told her to give up depression for Lent. That's a worthwhile choice to make. In fact, give up depression, negativity, criticism, pride, judgement, inertia, self-centeredness.  Imagine what would happen if we gave up things that bind us.

God is waiting to free us, so let that be the kind of fasting we participate in, fasting that sets the oppressed free. Welcome Lent!