Isaiah: Come!

Isaiah 55

Augustine (354-430), one of the early church fathers, said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”[1] Augustine wrote that in his Confessions, as he described his life without God and his quest to try anything that might fill the emptiness in his heart. Of course, it was futile until he found the Savior. Augustine said, “…Inside me, there was a famine of inward food. I was starving for You, my God.”[2]

God is the only One who can quench our spiritual hunger and thirst. He invites everyone to come and be satisfied.

Isaiah 55:1 [Anchor Point]
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. 

Four times in this verse God invites all to come. If you are spiritually thirsty, come. If you have no money, come. The rich spiritual food that God provides is free to all who will come. Jesus paid for your sins in full on the cross; the gift of salvation is yours without cost.  Today, you may be searching yet experiencing that inward famine. God invites you to come to him.

Like Augustine, we will try many things to fill our empty hearts, but it is useless. God asks, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” (Isa. 55:2a). God has abundant spiritual food for everyone who will seek after him (Isa. 55:2b).

When you come, God will make an everlasting covenant with you. You will belong to him always. God promised King David that his throne would be established forever (2 Sam. 7). That promise was fulfilled in Jesus. The word translated “everlasting covenant” is the Hebrew term hesed which describes a personal and unconditional covenant that God has with his children. When you surrender to him by trusting in Jesus, “your soul may live…and [God] will make with you an everlasting covenant” (Isa. 55:3).

When we trust in Jesus, he becomes our “leader and commander” (Isa. 55:4) therefore allowing God to be honored in our lives (Isa. 55:5).

Coming to God involves seeking him “while he may be found” and calling on him “while he is near” (Isa. 55:6).  Coming to God means we turn from attempting to be our own god and accept a new way of thinking about who God is and what he offers us through Jesus (Isa. 55:7a). 

As his child, we will experience his compassion and be fully forgiven (Isa. 55:7b).

Many people struggle with accepting God’s gift of salvation. They believe they must “clean up their act” before they are good enough for God. However God makes it clear that he doesn’t reason like humanity.

Isaiah 55:8-9
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

This passage applies to approaching God by his grace and growing in our relationship with him. God’s way of thinking is different than our limited human perspective. He understands that humanity can’t earn the position as his child, so he came to humanity. God became flesh and moved into our neighborhood, so that through Jesus we would see the glory of God (John 1:14).

When Jesus was born, Rome ruled the world. The Jewish people wanted their Messiah to be a conquering military hero delivering them from oppression. But God thinks beyond our temporary circumstances. God sent his Son to the bear the agony of the cross and deliver us from the tyranny of sin. Jesus died, was buried, and rose again so that we could live forever.

Following Jesus does not mean that we understand everything that happens in our lives. There are times when we are confused regarding God’s purpose in our circumstances. We ask “Why?” and “How long?” But we must remember, God thinks eternally. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God is always working for our good, even when we don’t understand.

God will always accomplish his purposes. Just as he sends the rain and snow to fulfill their purpose by watering the ground to provide food, so God’s word and his work always achieves their intended purposes.

Isaiah 55:10-11
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. 

God’s word never returns empty! God always succeeds in what he says he will do.

One day we will live with God forever in his glorious kingdom, and not only humanity, but all of nature will be impacted.

Isaiah 55:12
For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 

The redemption of nature will be an everlasting sign that God is sovereign overall (Isa. 55:13).

To be honest, I had a hard time deciding on an Anchor Point for this passage. This short chapter is packed with many powerful truths. God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isa. 55:8-9).  When God’s word goes out, it never comes back without accomplishing its intended purposes (Isa. 55:10-11).  However, I chose Isaiah 55:1 because that’s where the Christian life begins—with the gift of God’s grace. God invites us to experience the impact of sin, the inward famine, then draw near to him and find satisfaction in Jesus.

To the woman at the well who was trying to fill her broken life with another relationship, Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).

To the crowd who wanted Jesus to provide them with another free meal, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

Jesus alone satisfies our spiritual hunger and thirst. Jesus alone makes our souls come alive…and live forever.

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Time in the Word: Read and reflect on Isaiah 55. Reflect on our Anchor Point—Isaiah 55:1. Meditate on the free gift of salvation God provides for you through Jesus.

Talking to God:  Thank God for satisfying your spiritual hunger and thirst.

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Every day is a day of spiritual renewal as we follow hard after Jesus.