November 1, Isaiah 55
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. - Isaiah 55:1-2
God's ancient question is still a good one for us and the materialistic society we live in today. But we did not invent the "desire to acquire." It's an ancient problem. The human tendency to want more has driven most of the wars in the history of the world. Solomon wrote the book of
Ecclesiastes about his search for life and meaning apart from God. After all the accumulation, effort and spending, he concluded that it was all meaningless and empty. You and I are not immune to the siren song of materialism.
These days "minimalism" is a popular concept.
So we buy books about decluttering and look at advertising about products we need to buy to be happy with having less. It's not all that different, is it?
God offered the people of Isaiah's time a genuine alternative to working and spending to get more. He invited them to come to him to get real satisfaction from blessings that no amount of wealth can buy and no depth of poverty can deny.
This invitation is infused with imperatives. In Chapter 55, God called them (and us) to come, listen, incline the ear, behold, seek, forsake and return. God also gave them (and us) promises, incentives to get our attention and motivate us to obey those commands. He offered satisfaction, life, glory, compassion and pardon to all. He freely offered what we cannot buy at any price, and called us to act so we could enjoy the blessings of his grace.
The Lord reminded and assured us through Isaiah that his word was reliable. All the promises are backed by the proven covenant faithfulness of God. Just as he vowed to David and kept those vows to make him a great king and the head of a dynasty, so the blessings he offers us are backed by the same faithfulness of God to his word. Human promises are weak and breakable, but God is not like us and his word is different from ours. His word is never empty. It always accomplishes his purpose, just as snow provides water for the earth, so seed could grow into a crop and yield a harvest of food year after year.
There is another component we should ponder as we look at these commands and promises. We may rest assured that God will always do what he says he will do. But let's not miss that these blessings for obedience are limited-time offers. See the double "while" in verse 6? "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon while he is near." God is long-suffering; he is patient. He does not want to punish us; the heart of the Lord wants to bless us. But eventually, time runs out. The offer of blessing expires and judgment remains. God's patience with the wicked world ran out in the days of Noah. He waited and pleaded so long with Israel to love and serve him instead of worshiping idols. But eventually time ran out. We live with the same situation, don't we? We do not know what will happen tomorrow or in the future. We may die long before we imagined that we would, or the Lord may come again. Both those things are guaranteed to happen, but we do not know when. Remember, the opportunity to trust and submit to God is still a limited-time offer.
Is there some area of your life where you know you should trust and obey God instead of seeking satisfaction and fulfillment some other way? Let's listen and respond in trusting faith to our great and faithful God who wants to bless us. And let's do it before the limited-time offer expires.
Copyright © 2023 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—November 2023
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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