- Dec 22, 2017
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"Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking off every yoke?
...
If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
from following your own pursuits on my holy day;
If you call the sabbath a delight,
the Lord’s holy day glorious;
If you glorify it by not following your ways,
seeking your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs—
Then you shall delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." --Isaiah 58
"Rescue the oppressed from the oppressor;
and do not be hesitant in giving a verdict.
Be a father to orphans,
and be like a husband to their mother;
you will then be like a son of the Most High,
and he will love you more than does your mother." --Sirach 4
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking off every yoke?
...
If you refrain from trampling the sabbath,
from following your own pursuits on my holy day;
If you call the sabbath a delight,
the Lord’s holy day glorious;
If you glorify it by not following your ways,
seeking your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs—
Then you shall delight in the Lord,
and I will make you ride upon the heights of the earth;
I will nourish you with the heritage of Jacob, your father,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken." --Isaiah 58
"Rescue the oppressed from the oppressor;
and do not be hesitant in giving a verdict.
Be a father to orphans,
and be like a husband to their mother;
you will then be like a son of the Most High,
and he will love you more than does your mother." --Sirach 4
In effort to properly honor the Sabbath, it isn't enough to just refrain from work. Treating the Sabbath as an excuse for laziness is quite dishonorable to God's purpose for this holy day. Christian tradition gives the much more Godly way to treat the Sabbath; a day to refrain from following our own pursuits, and turn our efforts towards helping each other.
Many people use the Sabbath to minister to people at nursing homes, homeless shelters, prisons, or anywhere else that people need to hear some hope from God. Personally, I'm very limited in what I can do at this stage of my life (especially being without a car in an unfamiliar city), but I don't let that stop me from doing something. In keeping with the theme of freeing the oppressed, laying aside my own pursuits to help the least of God's children, I always try to do something to help work against human trafficking. I try to be better educated, raise awareness, and pray the hell out of this wicked industry.
I just got done watching "Priceless" for the 4th time. It's a movie recommended to me by a very good friend who's spent a summer in Thailand with a group working against human trafficking. I very strongly recommend it to anyone unfamiliar with human trafficking, because it's not as vivid as "Ring of Silence" or other movies on the topic, but it gives a strong Christian view on the subject (vitally important, when you're looking straight into what's perhaps the greatest evil on Earth).
The movie is based on true stories, and theatrically, it's very well made. From that movie, there's also a website called "Priceless Movement" (link below) that directs people to organizations to learn about & get involved with, including a directory from all 50 states & DC.
Priceless Movement
I'm also including a link to a few versions of the ancient devotion called the Stations of the Cross, which has a version designed as prayers for ending human trafficking available in English & Spanish. Stations Of The Cross
Please consider looking for this movie, especially if you lead some sort of worship group. It will be a movie night that won't be very fun, but very heavy, and God willing it'll inspire people to learn about & fight against this evil. You can get it fairly cheap, maybe $15 with shipping included (or cheaper with Prime Video or paid on YouTube or a similar source). If money is still an issue, send me a Private Message with your address & I can ship it from my Amazon account; I don't want anything to get in the way of people learning about human trafficking (and please look up more about it online, too, there's an abundance of free resources out there.)
Here's a link to a free event coming up Thursday (Aug. 29, 2019) in Chicago, discussing evidence & interviews of sextortion in juvenile trafficking: Presenting evidence, Sextortion and Interviewing Juvenile Sex Trafficking Victims - Traffick Free
Please pray for an end to this industry, hope for survivors, conversion for the traffickers, empowerment of Christians & all people to go & do something about it (counseling, advocacy, front lines, anywhere), for the governments that allow this, and for the Spirit to fill all the areas that need prayer that we won't even think about.
May God bless us all, especially those who are directly involved in one way or another with this menace!