Living the Law of the Fast

Brothers and Sisters,

I was reading about my responsibilities as Bishop and one of the primary duties is the administration of the Bishop's storehouse. According to Bishop Burton this particular resource is not even available to the 1st Presidency but is the exclusive responsibility assigned to Bishops. As I read further in the Handbook of instructions I was directed to study Isaiah 58.

I include some of the relevant passages here:

3 ¶^aWherefore 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 ^bfast ye find ^cpleasure, and^dexact all your labours.
 4 Behold, ye fast for ^astrife and ^bdebate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not ^cfast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

The key part of these verses is the last part of verse 4...I have the impression that we need to make more of our fasting or we shall not be able to make our voices heard on high. Some may find themselves going through the motions of the fast, observing the outward ordinance with no real humility. It has been said that fasting without prayer is just going hungry.

What then are the promises associated real fasting, Isaiah illuminates further:

6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the ^abands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go ^bfree, and that ye break every yoke?
 7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the ^ahungry, and that thou bring the ^bpoor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from^cthine own flesh?
 8 ¶Then shall thy ^alight break forth as the morning, and thine^bhealth shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy ^crereward.
 9 Then shalt thou ^acall, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the ^bputting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
 10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the ^ahungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light ^brise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
 11 And the Lord shall ^aguide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in ^bdrought, and ^cmake fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a ^dspring of water, whose waters fail not.

What incredible promises if we truly observe the Law of the Fast! There are requirements and one of those that is possibly more overlooked is repeated in the above verses several times. We need to open our hearts and "deal our bread to the hungry", and "draw out 'our' souls to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul".

We have many in our ward boundaries that are struggling and are in need of assistance, but I am more concerned about those in our ward that are in a position to be generous and choose not to be. Brothers and Sisters great are the promises to those that give generously of their means. "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise" (D&C 82:10)

Let us claim the promised blessings and be found doing all that we can to sanctify our hearts and purify our lives. I know as we do so the Lord will bless us abundantly.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Bishop Asay