A Pilgrim's Journal

I think it is a matter of what I am consuming and what I am producing.

	Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore
	have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold,
	in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your
	labours.
	   Isaiah 58:3

When I consume, I'm seeking my own pleasure. I eat to satisfy my hunger. I play to satisfy myself. I read to satisfy my brain. I spend money to buy things that I want. If I were rich enough to have employees, I would be expecting them to work hard for me to make me money, which I could then spend on myself.

In contrast, the fasting that God wants from us looks more like production. It looks more like the cessation of the very things that make our lives easier. "Fasting from pleasure" if you will. He tells us to untie the bonds of wickedness, relieve heavy burdens, set the oppressed free, break all yokes, feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the naked, satisfy the afflicted, and take care of your own flesh. He knows that we can't produce without consuming some fuel, but consumption should not be our goal.

Similar to how eating means we are "oppressing" plants and animals, doing well in business means "oppressing" employees and labourers and the environment. Indeed, in the drive for more profits, the lowest cost of labour is sought all over the world.

But God tells us to do the opposite, in order to fast for Him. Break those yokes, lighten those burdens, free those oppressed. Yes, we all must consume to produce, but to properly fast, we should be avoiding the food of selfishness. We should be limiting our appetite. We should be treading softly and leaving a small footprint on our neighbours and neighbourhood.

If consuming is our goal, are we not fasting from God? Are we not starving ourselves from the food of God and eating the food of the world? Living the life of a consumer harms our ability to live as a producer.

He tells us to stop speaking vanity, stop pointing the finger, and stop creating yokes for others.

I know I consume much. Not just in food, but in resources, and in pleasure. And while eating is not wrong, gluttony is. What else am I pigging out on in life? Pleasure? Entertainment? Laziness? Am I focusing on the latest gadget? Am I granting myself every desire that comes into my head?

Too often the answer is yes. I often have poor impulse control, and the world and advertisements encourage it every day. "Buy! Eat! Play!" they cry. And it is easy to follow along, especially when I know how fun it is. I consume too much, and often the wrong things.

Let me be a producer instead of a mere consumer, Lord, bearing Your fruit.