“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.” Isaiah 55:1-2 (NIV)
On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. John 7:37-39 (NIV)
Our God is not tight fisted nor stingy. He is open-handed and gives freely to all who come to Him in faith. No earthly portion is suitable to satisfy the human soul – it is Christ alone. He fills our cups to overflowing causing His living water to splash over our spheres of influence bringing Him glory and us much good. Nothing is as suitable to the heart and soul as Christ Jesus. It is He who fill our desires and longings and needs and petitions and nothing else fully satisfies apart from Him. Whatever is the highest good is that which is suited to be best for the soul of man, Amen? A dying man is not pleased with a full bank account nor houses in every city, but give him a cure for his illness and he is filled with delight. Jesus is the cure for the distraught human soul. He is the Way, He is the Truth, He is the Life.
God longs to be gracious to us. In both verses today the call is for all – His plead is for us to simply come. No cost. It is a wonder that we are still in the land of mercy with all our rebellion and resistance and taunting provocations. The Savior is indeed longsuffering and gracious. He both weeps over sinners and woos them to His heart. Jesus is the restorer of the soul and our souls remain wanting until they are filled by Him. Nothing that has happened to us is not in some way common to all – and He can manage it as we trust in Him. He leads and guides and directs us and He is in the business of making beauty from our ashes, transforming every form of suffering into something of great glory. Even in darkness His work goes on and what He asks from us is acceptance and trust in His process. As we yield ourselves to Him, He is conforming us into the image of His Son taking us from glory to glory on our way to resurrection life.
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)
And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. 1 Peter 5:4 (NIV)