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Come to Me!

Isaiah 55: 1-3; - 10 & 11

All you who are thirsty, come to the water!
You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat;
Come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk!
Why spend your money for what is not bread, your wages for what fails to satisfy?
Heed me, and you shall eat well, you shall delight in rich fare.
Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life.
I will renew with you the everlasting covenant, the benefits assured to David.
For just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down
And do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to him who sows and bread to him who eats,
So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will,
Achieving the end for which I sent it.

God is beckoning us to “come”…come to the water . . . come, buy wine and milk. God is our living water. God is our nourishing milk. God is our exhilarating wine.
This invitation from God tells us that there is a spiritual food that nourishes the inner man and fills one's life in a way and with abundance that all of a person's material things cannot.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73:25-26

God is offering that which is above price. “Wine” and “milk” serve as metaphors for that which sustains life. But God isn’t offering just wine and milk, He’s offering a place at the banquet table. This is an offer of pure grace. God has something priceless to offer, but he intentionally sets a price that everyone can afford—FREE! The only requirement is that we respond to the invitation—that we “come, buy and eat!” While this verse does not say that those who fail to respond will go hungry, it implies as much. “Come, buy, and eat!” is the invitation. Don’t go hungry any longer! God himself is the water and the milk and the wine.

God asks the people why they spend their money (a metaphor for “invest their life”) in that which gives them no strength and has no potential to sustain their lives. Why do they fritter away their lives on things that have no lasting value?

He goes on to say in that when we come to Him, He makes a covenant with us, the same kind of covenant that he made with King David in 2 Samuel 7 — a covenant of steadfast, sure love. This means that, when you come to God, he binds himself by an unbreakable oath to pursue you with goodness and mercy all your days right into eternity — with ever-refreshing water, and ever-strengthening milk, and ever-exhilarating wine, forever and ever!
“For just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth…” Using the figure of the water cycle, the Lord illustrates the essential principle that rain and snow comedown from heaven, and do not return before serving their purpose on earth. Even so, God’s Word, when He sends it down from heaven, does not return to Him until it fulfills His purpose on earth. This tells us that God is not just “all talk.” God’s Word has something to accomplish, a purpose. God doesn’t just speak to hear Himself talk. His Word is not empty or lacking in power.

God’s Word doesn’t barely get the job done. It shall prosper in the purpose God has for it. It is rich and full of life. God’s Word always succeeds, and always fulfills God’s purpose.

So, if you are distant from God, you need to come, draw near.

If you have drawn near in recent days or just this morning, but hold back from any transaction analyzing and appraising, you need to buy. I admit it is a strange transaction: there is no price and you are spiritually bankrupt. But you must take this water and milk and wine and count it yours just as much as if you had bought it, for there is one who has bought it.

If you have made the transaction and hold the water and milk and wine in your hand, you need to eat. God is not a thing to be studied. He is a person to be experienced. He is food and life and joy for the soul.
Finally, if you have eaten, delight yourself in the Lord. And say with the psalmist, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore”. (Psalm 16:11)

Continuing with these thoughts, here are two musical options for you to enjoy:

A traditional piece:
I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74kyfROS4q8

and a contemporary piece:
We Are Hungry https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s15nn-4NWwI