thirsty

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.  Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. (Isaiah 55:1-3)



A million and one things will demand or require my attention this day.  But of all those million and one things, which ones, if any, will really matter?  Which things, in the grand scheme of eternity, will be things that will have any lasting value or impact.  And which things, at the end of the day, will simply vanish into thin air?  Which things are of true substance (bread that will satisfy)?  Which things are about God and his life and his Kingdom?  And which things are only the illusion of substance (like cotton candy)?  Which things are about me and my significance and my kingdom?  This day, why will I spend money on what is not bread and labor on what does not satisfy?  Why in the world would I do that?  Why would anyone do that?  How pointless.

Yet, evidently, there is a way of living this day that can offer real life and real substance to my starving soul.  It is the very life God is inviting me to here in Isaiah 55.  It is the invitation to come, all you who are thirsty.  I don't know about you, but I am thirsty.  My problem is that I tend to run to those same old broken wells (see Jeremiah 2:13) that can hold no water, rather than running to the well of living water in an effort to satisfy that thirst.  But here it is, right here in black and white, God invites us to come, so much so that he mentions it five times in five sentences.  Come, listen, give ear, eat what is good, feed on me, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.  Why would I go anywhere else?