Read: Isaiah 55:1-6
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.
6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.
During Lent, Isaiah 53 is a passage we often focus on. In it Isaiah speaks the word of the Lord looking forward to the Messiah coming and dying for the iniquities and transgressions of his people. Here in Isaiah 55, he invites us to share in the blessings of the Messiah’s work.
God’s invitation is given to two groups of people. In verse 1, he invites “everyone who thirsts…who has no money.” God invites the thirsty and the poor to come to him. They represent people who have thirst in their souls. They feel dry. Dead. Empty. Dissatisfied. They know there is more to life and they can’t get to it.
God invites the thirsty; the ones who have no money; no strength; only a longing for something more. Come. Come in your poverty and your longing and find in me what your soul desires.
The second group is also thirsty, but they have resources. In verse 2, they spend their money, their energy, their time seeking something, but it never satisfies. They buy bread, that isn’t bread. They work and it’s never enough. These are people who keep striving for meaning; for purpose; for something elusive and at the end, their hearts are still empty; their souls are still dry. They may have all the bells and whistles; all the things the world says makes them something; and yet there is a chasm of longing still in their souls.
Two kinds of people – the thirsty who have and the thirsty who don’t. One thinks they are self-sufficient; the other knows they are spiritually bankrupt. Where do you see yourself? We all fit in one or the other group.
God invites us to come to the waters. He says, “Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Water, wine, and milk. Three beverages. One refreshes. One invigorates. One nourishes. Water restores our souls (as we saw in Psalm 23). Wine revives us and gives us energy. Milk gives us nutrients which strengthen.
One pastor writes, “Verse 1 says is that God is willing to revive us from the heat of Death Valley with the miracle of his water; and make us strong and healthy and stable with the miracle of his milk; and then give us endless and ever-fresh exhilaration with the miracle of his wine.”
God calls to us. He says, “Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” God offers to us food that will satisfy our deepest hunger; drink that will satisfy our most extreme thirst. It is good; it is rich. It satisfies and there is an abundance of it!
Then in verse 3 God says, “Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live.” God is the only one who can satisfy our soul; our heart’s deepest desires. He is the only one who can sustain us. David wrote, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26). God is the one who supplies all our needs from his riches (Philippians 4:19). God is the one who strengthens us with power to endure with joy (Colossians 1:11).
How do we
experience this blessing? John Piper points out that there are twelve commands
in these three verses. Three times we are called to listen carefully. Then, we
are told to 1) Come; 2) Buy; 3) Eat; and 4) Enjoy.
Take time to reflect:
1) Come. Do you feel distant from God? Do you long for more than what you’re experiencing with him? Draw near. Consider the pattern of your relationship with him and press in for more. What’s one thing this week you could do to draw nearer to God?
2) Buy. Have you drawn near but are holding back? You are still considering what to do. There is no charge. The price is free. But you must receive the water, the wine, and the milk by faith. Jesus paid the price at the cross, and now we can take and drink freely from the blessings God offers. Are you all in for Jesus? Where can you find more of him in your day?
3) Eat. Have you said yes to Jesus? Have you trusted in him and “bought” the water, wine and milk? You need to eat/drink. You need to consume it; to experience him. It isn’t enough to “know” about him. How are you pursuing Jesus? Is he inviting you to something more?
4) Enjoy. If you have “eaten”, you’ve pressed in for more and more of Jesus; now you can rest. Enjoy. Delight yourself in your Lord. Join the psalmist in saying, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).