Isaiah 55:1-3 ESV
Cf. John 4:10-15;
Revelation 3:14-22
“Come, everyone who
thirsts,
come to the waters…”
To Thirst For
To thirst is to long for, to desire, to hunger after
something. It has to do with our appetites – physically, mentally, emotionally
and spiritually. As human beings, we live in flesh bodies, and so in that flesh
we thirst for all sorts of things, some of them good, and some of them bad.
When we are born into this world, we are born with sin
natures, separate from God, and we fall short of attaining his divine approval
and his righteousness in our own flesh. But, since we are created by God, there
is a God-void within us that needs to be filled by God. And, so God makes
himself known to us through his creation. There he reveals “his invisible
attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature” so that we are all “without
excuse” (Rom. 1:20).
And, so we have a choice. We can choose to thirst after
(pursue) God, or we can choose to desire (and pursue) the flesh, instead. If we
choose the flesh, then we reject God. For, although God has revealed himself to
us, we then reject the truth in order to follow after the lies. We reject
righteousness and holiness, and instead we go after (thirst after) what is
vile, wicked, immoral, dishonest, untrustworthy and unholy, because our foolish
hearts are darkened in their understanding, because we allowed sin to blind our
eyes.
But, this is not talking just about those people who have never
made any profession of faith in God (in Jesus Christ), is it? This is talking
about those who have heard the gospel of our salvation, who have even sat under
good biblical preaching and teaching, and who have even been Bible teachers and
pastors themselves. This is talking about those who have professed faith in
Jesus Christ, and who have professed to be following Jesus with their lives.
Many of them have shut their ears to the truth of the
gospel, largely because so many of them are addicted to sin, and so they are
now following after the lies which tell them that they can walk (conduct their
lives) in sin (wickedness) and still have eternal life with God. And, so they
will console themselves in their sin with promises God did not make to them. And,
in this way, they stop listening to God and they follow their own appetites,
instead.
Yet, God’s counsel to all who thirst, though, is that we
should come to the waters. And, the waters symbolize Jesus Christ, our Savior, and
God’s righteousness and holiness, his amazing grace, his blessings and free
gift of salvation from sin, the indwelling of his Holy Spirit, and eternal life
with God from this moment forward for all who are believing in him. These are
the answer to the cravings (longings) of our hearts. Yet, truly Jesus Christ is
the singular answer to the cravings of our hearts, and all else flows from him.
“…and he who has no
money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and
milk
without money and without price.”
Buy and Eat!
And, this is where it gets interesting, for we are told,
basically, that we are to come and buy these blessings from God, but without
money. And, this parallels over to Revelation 3:14-22, where God (Jesus Christ)
counsels his lukewarm church to “buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you
may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame
of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you
may see.”
So, how does this work? How do we buy something without
money? I thought God’s gift of salvation from sin is a free gift, too. For, we
can’t do anything to earn or to deserve it. No amount of good works or human
effort can ever attain for us salvation from sin and eternal life with God.
True!
Therefore, it really comes down to us comprehending the “free
gift” and what it is. Yes, Jesus paid for this free gift to us with his blood
on the cross so that we could be delivered from our slavery to sin, and from
the punishment of sin, and so we could live righteously before him and have
eternal life with him. The free gift, thus, is not unqualified forgiveness of
everyone’s sins who makes some profession of him as Savior.
We must buy these blessings from God, but not in the sense
of us doing anything in our flesh to try to earn or deserve them. What we use
to buy them with is faith, but the faith to believe is even a gift from God
(Eph. 2:8-10). And, if from God, then it will submit to God’s purposes, to his
will, to his righteousness and holiness, and to Jesus Christ as our Lord
(owner-master).
Thus, when we “buy” the water, the milk and the wine, we are
actually surrendering ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ over our lives.
We do this by dying with Christ to sin that we might live with him to
righteousness. We deny self and we take up our cross daily and we follow (obey)
Christ. We walk now (in lifestyle) according to the Spirit of God and no longer
according to our flesh – all by the power and working of God’s Spirit at work
within us.
We leave (forsake) our former lives of living for sin and
self, and now we are reborn of the Spirit of God, and we are new creations in
Christ Jesus, our Lord, created to be like God in true righteousness and
holiness. Thus, the old man (sin nature) is put to death, so that the new
nature (of the Spirit of God) can flourish within us (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 6:1-23;
Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:19-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Jn. 1:5-9;
1 Pet. 2:24).
“Why do you spend your
money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not
satisfy?”
Why Do You?
This is not talking about physical bread or physical food,
but this is talking about the Word of Life, Jesus Christ, who left his throne
in heaven, came to earth, took on human form, and was crucified on a cross for
you and for me so that we could be set free from our addiction to sin and walk
righteously before him all our days.
And, this is talking about the Word of God, the Bible
(Genesis to Revelation), which the Lord has given to us to lead us and to guide
us into all truth, and in the ways of true righteousness and holiness.
And, it is not talking so much about physical money, either,
though that is a part of it, but the question really is, “Why do you spend your
lives, your resources, your time, your affections, your attention and your
passion (desire) on what will never satisfy the deep longings of your soul?”
Why do those who profess faith in Jesus Christ spend
everything they have, basically, on broken cisterns which do not hold water,
i.e. on cheap substitutes for Jesus Christ and for his deliverance from
addiction to sin and as a replacement for his gospel of salvation? Why do they,
in other words, choose immorality, lies, self-pleasure, selfishness, pride,
gossip, hatred, envy and unfaithfulness over surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord
(master) of their lives?
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.”
Incline Your Ear
This appeal by our Lord is not a suggestion or even a
recommendation. It is also not a gentle nudge. This is a passionate and
powerful call to listen to God, to Jesus Christ. And, this is not about just listening
with our ears, but it is about really hearing what he says, and then obeying
what he says. For, this is diligent listening, i.e. it is conscientious,
attentive and persistent, as opposed to being lazy and apathetic or turning a
deaf ear to him.
We are to eat (partake in; participate in) what is good
(holy, pure, honest, wholesome, moral, and upright, etc.). We are to delight
ourselves in the riches of God’s truths in his Word, and in his righteous
instructions to us for holy living. They are to be a joy to our hearts and
applied to our daily lives.
We are to turn our ears and our hearts away from what is
wicked and vile, and we are to turn our ears and our hearts toward our Lord to
follow him in all of our ways. And, we are to come to him, not in some
formality, or in some emotional experience, but to turn our lives over to his
control. And, we are to truly hear him by applying his truths to our lives so
that we might live forever with him.
For, if we do not surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, and
if we do not conduct our lives (as a matter of course, i.e. lifestyle) in
agreement with his Holy Spirit, then we do not have eternal life with God. We
cannot claim the promises that God has given to those who walk in his holiness
by faith in him. For, those promises are not ours to claim if we are still
walking (living) by the flesh, and if we are making sin (adultery, lying,
cheating, stealing, etc.) our practice (habit, matter of course).
So, if we want to live with Christ for eternity and be saved
from our sins, then we need to surrender our lives to Jesus Christ today and
always.
He
Gives Purpose
An
Original Work / June 9, 2012
“Listen to Me when I’m calling to you.
Obey freely My word.
Follow Me in all of My ways.
Do all that I say.
Hear Me gently whisper to you
My will for your life and future.
Give all of your life and heart to
Follow Me always.”
Repent of your sins and worship Jesus.
He’s your Lord and Master.
He died for your sins so you could
Live with Him today.
He has a plan for your life and
He gives purpose and direction.
He gives meaning to your life,
So follow Him today.
“I love you so much I gave My life for
You to walk in My ways,
Living for Me each day as you
Bow to Me and pray.
Witness for Me of your love for Me and
Of My grace and mercy,
How I died to save you of your
Sins now and always.”
Sunday, March 3, 2019
No comments:
Post a Comment