Come!
Isaiah 55:1-13
“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater…”
We have all been brought up to believe that there is no such thing as a free lunch. And even in the context of what God offers, that is true, because what he offers has been wrought at a great cost. And so he tells us, “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.” It is not a cheap feebie; it is the real deal: good, delightful and nourishing; bought at great cost.
Unfortunately though, we have been conditioned to treat unbelievably good deals with suspicion. And so many people prefer to turn to the solutions they can pay for: with money, with effort, with good works, with self-inflicted pain, with sacrifice, with hardship; thinking that these must be good, because they cost us so much.
And God asks, “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?”
The truth is, though, that what we need we can never pay for. It is beyond our ability to acquire. Yet still we cannot believe that God would acquire it for us and offer it to us at no cost.
And so God has to persuade us and help us see the truth.
He tells us that he is not like us. He is God! What does he want or need from us? He is love! What ulterior motive would he harbour? Look at creation, he says. I have created the processes and resources needed to sustain your life and required nothing from you. And they have sustained your life perfectly all this time. Do you think it is any different from what I am telling you, offering you now?
For those of us who are thinking that this is about salvation, and we are already saved, please think again. This is about life. Just as God has created a universe that sustains our physical life, he offers himself to sustain our soul and spirit. Come, he tells us. We must not stop coming to him.
“Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live.”