“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. 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. 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.” Isaiah 55:1-3
Isaiah, the prophet has much to say to us today. As I come to this familiar text this morning I am immediately transported to the New Testament where Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:28-30). There are so many weary people in this world who seek to do everything in their own power and in their own way coming away with nothing, completely exhausted from the useless labor. The Lord promises rest for His own when we “Come, to Him, knowing we have nothing to pay for the gifts He gives.
Between Isaiah and Jesus we see that God has much to give to us who have nothing but our sin to bring in payment. “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” Our weariness is because of our sin… our unwillingness to submit to God and His will. But God, in His love for us, says to us, “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.” He never lets us go if we are His and He continually reaches His loving hands out to us so that we can come to Him!
On any given day, any of us, who are His, are weary. On any given day, any of us wonder about how we will make it through the day. On any given day, the weariness weighs us down to the point that we are without strength to even want to continue. So God says to us, “Come!” Because He loves us, He says, “Come!”
For those of us who are His, we can come and we can receive from Him just what we need to be able to endure the hardships and weariness of the day. Notice, I didn’t say, that we can come to Him and He will take the hardship and weariness away… He promises to give us sustenance to endure… water and food, wine and milk, those commodities that enable us to continue on the way… His way.
But then once we are filled with physical substance He gives us the rest that will refresh us, “Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 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.” He knows how fickle we are. Until we are filled with His grace, we will not listen… we will not believe He can be trusted enough to incline toward Him… we will struggle with the life He has given. And yet, He still says, to us weak ones… His children… Come, listen, hear, that your soul may live and on top of that I will re-confirm my covenant with you as I did with David. The amazing grace of God that we can experience if we would only drop what we are holding onto that isn’t working and come to Him.
His promises are ever true if we would only believe and live in them rather than listening to our hearts, all along becoming more and more weary. His rest is guaranteed in that trust. Take the time today… drop all your concerns at the cross and come to Him for refreshment and renewal. Taste and see that the LORD, He is good!
God Bless y’all today.
In His Grip,
Pastor Mike
