If you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
Jesus is not telling men and women how to gain salvation. He is explaining how people who are saved should behave. He compares the person who knows God to the natural and unregenerate man. If a person knows God and imitates his character, he will forgive the sins of other people who have sinned against himself. In the same way, when a person desires God’s attention and seeks it through physical deprivation by fasting, if this person seeks the attention of his neighbor and God, the Lord will ignore his fast and let him satisfy himself on the attention of his neighbor. Once again, God is only interested in genuine worship, not leftovers.
Daily Prayer: Father, just like the people who you refer to in this text, I too long to satisfy you. I know that in my own flesh, I cannot satisfy you. It is my hope that faithfulness and obedience pleases you, since this is not the sign of the world, but the sign of one who loves you. In Jesus name I pray Amen.
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