To The Water

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what does not satisfy? 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 your soul may live.” Isaiah 55: 1-3

“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water." Jeremiah 2:13

God has always been a God of invitation. Breaking down the barriers that should exist between a perfect creator and an imperfect creation. Lovingly drawing people of all kinds and every condition to come and find life in Him since the beginning of time. 

Throughout the Old Testament, we see the Lord perpetually pleading with His people, Israel, to turn from their sin and come find everything they were looking for in God Himself. Over and over again, He presents Himself as the ultimate source that provides the answer to every fundamental longing of the human heart. He is the only One who satisfies that unrelenting thirst that exists within all of us. And He so desires to do it! That deep compelling that leaves us utterly unsatisfied by even the sweetest pleasures that this life can give us, He longs to fill. 

Humanity is, by nature, always thirsting for more; and God, by nature, when He is partaken of, always quenches thirst. Just as water is not merely an option for our physical bodies to sustain life, receiving from God is vital in order for us to thrive and be spiritually alive. We will never stop thirsting and He will never stop offering Himself as the fountain from which we can drink moment by moment to find life for our souls. 

Just as Jesus describes the relationship between the Vine and the Branches in John 15 - there is very real fruitfulness and sustenance in an ongoing and abiding relationship with the Lord. He invites us to come to Him again and again and again. Our dependency is not a burden to Him but a fragrance that draws Him near to us. Even as we grow in spiritual maturity and formation, our neediness remains the same.  

In the context of Isaiah 55, God speaks to a discouraged and disenfranchised people living in Babylonian captivity, whose lives were filled with grief and uncertainty. They had, up to this point, experienced God’s radical provision. Their history with God was marked by signs, wonders and the radical fulfillment of glorious promises. Yet they found themselves desperate, destitute, and needy in ways they probably couldn't even begin to articulate. Having lost heart in the midst of calamity, they needed to be reminded that God had not abandoned them. In fact, He desired to give them the gift that they had so often rejected: Himself. He gives them the same invitation that has echoed throughout human history: Come to me!

This is the same free and gracious invitation that God offers us all. Not only to the Jews through whom the Savior came, but to the Gentiles — to the hungry; to all who would avail themselves to the mercy of God; to the broken and imperfect; to all would put their trust in the Son of God; to you. Today. 

However weary you may be, He invites you to come and find rest in Him. However unqualified you may feel, He invites you to come and find worth and identity in Him. However brokenhearted and heavy laden you may be, He invites you to come and be restored. However anxious and overwhelmed you may be, He invites you to come and receive grace and power that you don’t have to strive for. Whatever your thirst, come to the Father. There is truly no greater fountain.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.” - Matthew 11:28-29