Tuesday, October 13,
2015, 9:30 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “I’d Rather Have Jesus.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I
read Isaiah 55 (Selected NASB).
Come to the Waters
(v. 1)
“Ho!
Every one 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.”
I think all of us knows what it means to be thirsty, though
certainly some people much more than others. Our mouths get dry, and swallowing
becomes difficult. Our body then begins to long for and to crave water. We may
even become faint and dizzy and pass out because we have become dehydrated due
to lack of water in our body’s system. Our bodies need water to survive. That
is the way God made us.
God also made us to worship him, to know him, to be in
relationship with him, and to obey him. In Romans 1 we read that what may be
known about God was made plain to all humankind by God. “For since the creation
of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature –
have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men
are without excuse” (Ro. 1:20). All humankind know God exists.
Because of the sin of Adam (and Eve) in the Garden of Eden, though,
all humankind has been born with a sin nature, devoid of God, without hope, and
destined to spend eternity in hell. So, there is a God-void in our lives, which
only God can fill. And, many are searching to fill that void, but they are
searching in all the wrong places. So, God is calling out to the thirsty, to
those who long to have that emptiness filled in their lives with what can
satisfy the deep longings of their souls. And, he is calling them to come to
HIM.
What God is offering is a relationship with him through
faith in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is offering to save us from our sins – both from
slavery to sin and from eternal punishment for sin – and to give us the hope of
eternal life with him, both now and forevermore. We can do nothing to earn or
to deserve this salvation. It is a free gift from God because Jesus paid the
price for our sin through his blood shed on a cross, so we could go free. This
gift, though, means death to sin and living to righteousness. Jesus died that
we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave himself up for us.
He died that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us who
walk no longer according to the flesh, but who conduct our lives in agreement
with and in the power of the Spirit. The gift of salvation, of God’s grace, is
not a free license to continue in sin, but it is the freedom from bondage to
sin and freedom to become servants of righteousness. It is a heart
transformation which moves us away from living for sin and self to empowering
us to walk daily in God’s holiness.
Eat What is Good
(vv. 2-3)
“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.
“Incline
your ear and come to Me.
Listen,
that you may live…
As I said, many people are trying to satisfy this thirst
with things other than God. Again, in Romans 1 it says that even though
humankind knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor did they give thanks
to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened
(v. 21).
They began to worship what was created rather than the
creator. And, that is where many people are today. They spend their money and
time on things that will never satisfy the deep longings of their souls, only
to come up empty, for the things of this world will only bring temporary
satisfaction which is fleeting. Even many who call themselves Christians or
even those who have truly been born again of the Spirit of God may find
themselves going after the things of this life in order to satisfy a void in
their lives which only God can fill, and that is a very sad reality, and
something we must all guard against. So, God is calling us to find our
satisfaction in him, and in his righteousness and holiness, to where if we lost
all that we have in this life, although it might be inconvenient, we would be
ok, knowing we have Jesus.
Seek the Lord
(vv. 6-7)
Seek
the Lord while He may be found;
Call
upon Him while He is near.
Let
the wicked forsake his way
And
the unrighteous man 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.
Instead of running after the pleasures this world has to
offer us, we are to seek after the Lord and his righteousness. If we are not
yet in relationship with Jesus Christ, through faith, then this is a call to
believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, and to accept his gift
of eternal salvation and freedom from sin. When we come to faith in Jesus
Christ, we die with Christ to sin and we are resurrected with Christ to new
lives, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24).
We put off our old lives of living for sin and self, we are transformed in
heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and we put on our new lives in Christ. We
are filled and empowered with the Holy Spirit, and we now walk by faith in the
Spirit and no longer according to the flesh.
Yet, even those who know Jesus as Lord and as Savior of
their lives can drift away from their pure devotion to him, and can become
entangled once again in the trappings this world has to offer, so this is a
call, as well, to the adulterous and idolatrous church to return to the Lord,
to repent of sin, to forsake idols, and to cease looking to the things of this
life to satisfy the deep longings of their souls. It is a call for them to find
their meaning and direction for life only in God/Jesus, and to follow him in
obedience and in surrender to his will for our lives, for it is only in the
center of his will that we are truly satisfied and at peace. It is only there
that we can know true joy and fulfillment, even when all hell may be breaking
loose all around us, and even though all else may be taken away from us.
Follow His Ways
(vv. 8-11)
“For
My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor
are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
“For
as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So
are My ways higher than your ways
And
My thoughts than your thoughts.
“For
as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And
do not return there without watering the earth
And
making it bear and sprout,
And
furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
So
will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It
will not return to Me empty,
Without
accomplishing what I desire,
And
without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
Some of us may presently be going through some very
difficult times. Perhaps the life you had been living has been turned upside
down. Your house was washed away in a flood and you have lost all your earthly
possessions. Your spouse has left you for another person, and now you don’t
know what you are going to do. You are living in a war-torn country, and have
been forced out of your house and land, and you are now having to try to find a
place to live. You may be going without food, and you may be lacking for
shelter. You lost your job and you can’t find another, and now you wonder how
you are going to pay your bills or feed your family. You are suffering an
illness or injury, and it has completely changed your lifestyle. People are
spreading lies about you, and you have had to face much rejection and
persecution for your faith in Jesus Christ. Even those you love have been killed
for their faith. And, the list goes on.
Some of you may be calling out to God and asking him “Why,
Lord?” You may not understand why such bad things are happening to you, or what
you are supposed to do now that your life has so drastically been altered. Yet,
as humans, we often don’t think like God thinks. His ways are sometimes way far
beyond our ability to comprehend. Yet, God has purposes for all that he does,
and for all that he allows. Sometimes he allows us to lose what is precious to us
in this life, so that we will see our need for God, and so we will thirst for
him instead of going after the things of this world to meet our needs and
desires and deep longings. So many times when we, as humans, have too much, we
can become complacent and too casual about our relationships with God, and can
take him for granted. So, there are times when he allows us to go through
hardship so we will look up, and so we will seek his face, and so we will honor
him as the holy God that he is.
You Will Go in Joy
(vv. 12-13)
“For
you will go out with joy
And
be led forth with peace;
The
mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And
all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
“Instead
of the thorn bush the cypress will come up,
And
instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up,
And
it will be a memorial to the Lord,
For
an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.”
When we cease looking for love, joy, peace, satisfaction and
fulfillment in the things of this world, and in the people of this world, and
we submit to the Lordship of Christ in our lives, running after him with our
whole hearts, we will know true joy and peace that only God can give, and we
will rejoice in our salvation, because Jesus Christ set us free from slavery to
sin, and he gave us new lives to be lived in his righteousness and holiness. In
fact, the return to God will be accompanied by much joy and peace, and will
produce much spiritual fruitfulness in our lives to the glory of God, because
we learned that Jesus is all we need. Not only that, but we would rather have
Jesus than anything this world offers us. Amen!
I’d Rather Have Jesus
/ Rhea F. Miller / Joel A. Erickson
I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold…
I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hand,
Than to be the king of a vast domain
And be held in sin’s dread sway…
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