It’s all free ∙

It’s all free ∙

Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink – even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk – it’s all free! – Isaiah 55:1

 Isaiah 55:1-3

 1 Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

 2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.

 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live

John 7:37-38

 37 Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!

 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”

In 1915, the Church of the Open Door opened its 4000-seat auditorium on Hope Street in downtown Los Angeles.

It was conceived by R. A. Torrey who had come to Los Angeles to start a Bible institute (now Biola University) similar to Moody Bible Institute. Its purpose was to reach the lost people of Los Angeles

On top of the 15 plus story building were three-story-tall signs that read “JESUS SAVES.” They were visible from the surrounding freeways. Right below “JESUS SAVES” the words, “Free Food” in much smaller print.

The hungry, and often homeless, came from miles around, for the free food. Many are often left with not only full stomachs but also full and satisfied souls.

The Father makes a fantastic offer! He offers to sell what people truly need and want. How much does it cost? It is all free. The Father’s offer allows people “to buy” what is “free.” Pure grace, such a deal! And everyone is invited.

This offer is far much more than something that merely quenches physical thirst. The Father’s offer is for something that satisfies our deepest longings. Most people actually have no idea what quenches their thirst. Rest assured, the Father knows.

What is the greatest desire of our hearts? We know we have a pang, a longing, a hollowness, a vacuum inside. We search for words but can find none that describe it. How can you effectively seek something, when you do not really know what it is that you are looking for?

The Father is the architect, designer, and creator of humankind. He knows exactly what is missing. Solomon hinted at it when he wrote, “I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:10-11).

Pascal, the great mathematician, and philosopher put it like this,

“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace?”

“This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there, the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.”

Most of us are more familiar with the inexact paraphrase, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”

REFLECT & PRAY

Because God made us for an intimate relationship with Himself, our deepest needs cannot be met anywhere else but in Him. Jesus offers the only satisfaction for spiritual thirst (Stanley).

Father, I was so hungry for so many years. The ache within was intense and the thirst enormous. Thank You for revealing the Truth. Your presence not only fills the void but overflows.

INSIGHT

Isaiah 55:2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Why would anyone spend their hard-earned money on stuff that does not satisfy? Isn’t that absurd and ridiculous? Yet down through the ages, untold multitudes, having only short-term goals and values have done and continue to do just that. How often has buyer’s regret been experienced?

What incongruous futility, expending effort and treasure for things that do not satisfy yet rejecting a free gift which satisfies forever. There is just no way to have your cake and eat it too.

The Lord Jesus Christ declares for all time, that He Himself is the source, the one and only source that provides ultimate satisfaction of our deepest, spiritual and emotional thirst. Everyone is invited.

John 7:37-38

 37 Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!

 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”

Jennifer Garner asks the question “What’s in your wallet?” The Father asks the question, “Who alone satisfies your soul?”

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