(Delmont Record – 8/28/2015)

The Best Thing in Life Is Free

55 “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. ² 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 you will delight in the richest of fare. ³ Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.      – Isaiah 55:1-3

Next Monday, September 7^th, we will celebrate Labor Day. This is the day on which we recognize the contribution of the American worker to the success of our country. Certainly this is a worthy cause for celebration; however, the greatest thing that we could even attain in this life is something that our labor cannot gain.

In this prophetic passage from Isaiah, which speaks clearly about the coming of Jesus Christ hundreds of years later, we see a clear presentation of the Gospel. Due to constraints here I can’t print the entire chapter, but I encourage you to look it up in full. The chapter begins with an incredible invitation – an invitation to come and buy food, wine and milk without the need for money. It is an invitation to obtain “the richest of fare” (v. 2) without the need to pay for it.  Such invitations are rare.  But even though this is an unusual invitation, like standard invitations it still needs to be accepted. To just be invited to an event does not make you a participant.  In order to receive the full benefits of the invitation you need to show up.

So, too, God’s invitation is for those who are thirsty to come, those who are hungry, buy and eat! And the question is asked, “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?”  The truth is only the gifts of God can satisfy our deepest needs in life. Nothing we can obtain through hard work will fill the desires of our heart. And God knows that, and so He has sent out an invitation that we might gain something we could never earn.

And what is it that God has offered us?  He offers us His Son Jesus Christ. All of these offers were repeated by our Lord throughout His ministry. In John 6:35 Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”  In John 7:37-38 Jesus taught, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” And of course this invitation was also given as Jesus gathered with His disciples and shared one final meal with them.  At that last supper, Jesus offered them the bread saying, “Take eat, this is my body.”  And as He passed the cup He said, “Drink from it, all of you.  This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” The invitation given in Isaiah would be fulfilled over 700 years later in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

For us today, it is not enough that the invitation was given, but in order for us to partake of this rich fare, the invitation must be accepted. It must be accepted by faith as we can never do enough to earn the wealth that God offers to us.  And it is not enough to have some vague sense of belief in Jesus, but you must come, take and eat, accept the bread offered to you.  And you must come and drink the wine poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins.  And if you come to Christ in acceptance of His invitation to you, only then can you experience the promise of Isaiah 55:7 which states, “Let them turn to the LORD and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.”