March 30, 2001
"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;
and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost."
Isaiah 55:1
God has such an intense desires for us to come to him that he has done all the work, paid the price, made it possible!! All he asks us to bring to him is our thirst.. our intense desire. Many friends I've talked to over the years have rejected God because they think that he asks too much of them... the funny thing is there really is so little God asks from us - he has done so much for us!! In this passage he's calling us to come to him, to bring our desire for more in this life, the desire to be filled up directly to him. To come to him at the waters, which symbolizes the abundance we will find to meet our needs. Amazingly he doesn't expect us to come to him with anything else. It isn't something we can buy we MUST accept it as a gift... I know for me, it is humbling to accept a gift (not on a holiday or birthday) especially if I feel I have the resources to provide it for myself. When we study the Bible we talk about counting the costs, but there really aren't any except to put our pride aside and humbly accept the gift God has given. God wants us to feast on wine and milk... both common drinks of the day that communicate God's heart to provide the abundant blessings that will nourish us and make us happy.. like nothing else in this life can. No job, no material possession, no relationship, no success, no program, no amount of money... NOTHING can meet our needs the way that God can! and... he asks for NOTHING from us.