In The Word
Read: Isaiah 55
The Free Offer of Mercy
55 “You there! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
And you who have no money come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without cost.
2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And delight yourself in abundance.
3 Incline your ear and come to Me.
Listen, that you may live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
According to the faithful mercies shown to David.
4 Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
A leader and commander for the peoples.
5 Behold, you will call a nation you do not know,
And a nation which does not know you will run to you,
Because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel;
For He has glorified you.”
6 Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.
7 Let the wicked abandon his way,
And the unrighteous person his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it produce and sprout,
And providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
11 So will My word be which goes out of My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the purpose for which I sent it.
12 For you will go out with joy
And be led in peace;
The mountains and the hills will break into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn bush, the juniper will come up,
And instead of the stinging nettle, the myrtle will come up;
And it will be a memorial to the Lord,
An everlasting sign which will not be eliminated.”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
COME! Wow, what a way to begin. This bold invitation calls out in the first verses and sets the tone for the rest of Isaiah 55. With each subsequent verse, God’s promises get better and better to the point they sound so unbelievable they seem scandalous. How could it be true that our God is calling all who will hear to Himself? If it’s all who hear, then He is offering this invitation not only to His people, but also to those that are not His people. And this is where is gets shocking, challenging the mind of the reader.
How could God invite the people who have rejected Him or who have never known Him? You can almost sense the question, “We are surely invited, because we are God’s people… but them?” It doesn’t seem fair that such extravagant rewards would be so freely given to people who have not followed after the statutes and the will of God. Still today, we can see this attitude in our churches.
God address this by explaining that His ways and thoughts are beyond any human’s comprehension. Though we cannot fully understand His open invitation, it does not nullify it. I am reminded of a time I shared God supernatural salvation with a friend of mine. After I had finished sharing, he looked at me with sincere conviction and said, “That sounds to good to be true, I can’t believe that.”
God’s invitation does seem too good, too outrageous, too scandalous, to be true…but it is. By faith, let’s embrace every single promise in Isaiah 55. Come! Everyone who thirsts, come to the water. Seek the Lord while He may be found and rejoice in His everlasting covenant!