God's Great Invitation - Come, Satisfy Your Thirst

by Whitney V. Myers

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Come to the Waters - Isaiah 55:1 - 123RF Photo - Used under license

"Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat.  Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price." (Isaiah 55:1)

This lesson explains God’s great invitation in Isaiah 55:1, "Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters," and "Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."

This lesson is the second in a series on God's Invitations in the Bible, specifically, the "Comes" of God's word.  The first lesson in the series was "Come Now, Let Us Reason Together (Isaiah 1:18)" (Ref. 1).

     Consider.  Are you are spiritually thirsty or hungry?  Come to God and find true refreshment and nourishment for your soul. 

     Everyone who thirsts.  God invites thirsty people to come to him.  When you are thirsty, you know that you have an intense desire to satisfy your thirst (for example, with a drink of water).  When you are a sinner you may already sense your need for salvation (Matthew 5:6, Ref. 2).  God, and only God, is the one who can satisfy your thirst.  The Psalmist recognized the thirsting of his soul when he wrote, "As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God" (Psalm 42:1-2). 

     Come to the waters.  God himself is the source of the water that truly refreshes and revives.  Isaiah describes God as the source of this spiritual water.  The Lord said, "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants" (Isaiah 44:3).  Likewise, when Jesus, the Son of God, encountered the Samaritan woman at the well, he said to her, "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:13-14).  God invites you to come to him to satisfy your spiritual thirst (John 7:37).    
 

     And you who have no money, come, buy and eat.  God invites people who have no money (literally, no silver) to come to him (Ref.3).  Come to God and receive the food that truly satisfies your hungry soul.

No money is required to buy what God offers because God provides it free.  A poor person cannot pay for it, and a rich person cannot purchase it.  God freely offers salvation to people in our time because Christ has already paid the price (1 Peter 1:18-19).  To receive salvation, God only requires that we put our faith and trust in his Son, Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9, Ref. 4).

God provides food that truly satisfies.  God alludes to the food that satisfies in Isaiah 55:2, "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?  Scripture tells us that the real blessing which truly satisfies people's wants and desires is Jesus himself.  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, Ref. 5).

     Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price.  In Isaiah 55:1, wine and milk are figurative for God's choicest blessings (Ref. 6).  Wine is a gift of God (Genesis 27:28).  Melchizedek, priest of God Most High, brought wine and bread together to Abraham (Genesis 14:18).  The Psalmist wrote that wine gladdens the heart of man (Psalm 104:14-15).  Milk provides nourishment needed for sustenance and growth (Proverbs 27:27, 1 Peter 2:2).

God offers spiritual blessing without money and without price.  No silver or gold can buy the blessing which God offers (Ref. 7).  Jesus Christ himself is the gift that God freely offers (John 3:16, Ref. 4).  Jesus Christ is the all-sufficient supply for every thirst of the human soul (John 7:37, Ref. 8). 

How will you respond to God's great invitation? 

     Apply.  Accept God's great invitation.  Come to God and find true satisfaction for the hunger and thirst of your soul.  Accept Jesus Christ, God's Son, who promises, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst" (John 6:35).

References
1.  http://www.scriptureway.com/home/come-now-let-us-reason-together-isaiah-118
2.  https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/isaiah/55.htm
3.  https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3701.htm
4.  http://www.scriptureway.com/home/the-most-important-offer-you-will-ever-receive 
5.  http://www.ScriptureWay.com/home/jesus-is-the-bread-of-life
6.  https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2461.htm
7.  https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/isaiah/55.htm
8.  https://biblehub.com/commentaries/maclaren/isaiah/55.htm