More Than I Deserve

“Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! Why do you spend money on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. Pay attention and come to Me; listen, so that you will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the promises assured to David. Since I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples, so you will summon a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you will run to you. For the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel, has glorified you.” (Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

When my wife and I were much, much younger and our daughter was just a baby, we were struggling to make ends meet. I was working full time at a job with good benefits but poor pay. We were just barely making it from paycheck to paycheck. Any unexpected expense could set us back, and it often did. While I was drawing a small monthly salary from my full time job, I was also pastoring a small country church for $50/week. I arrived home from work one day, near the end of the month, and found out we needed milk for the baby. I had nothing in my wallet and nothing in my bank account but she needed milk.

I was at my lowest point and I felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I honestly didn’t know what to do and my thoughts went to a very dark place because I had lost all hope. I honestly believed my young wife and baby daughter would be better off without me because they would receive the payout from my work provided life insurance. As I thought through various scenarios on how to make my death look like an accident, I remembered that I had hope hiding in plain sight. My belt buckle had a single silver dollar mounted on it. Believe it or not, that single silver dollar changed my outlook in that moment and for the rest of my life. I used that silver dollar to buy the much needed milk for my baby daughter. But that’s not all it did, it also forced me to face my spiritual doubts and fears.

Doubt is not a topic that is discussed much in church. We seem to act as if doubt is abnormal for “true” Christians – if you really believed you wouldn’t have doubts. So we deny and suppress the doubts in hopes that they will go silent or go away. In my pastoral experience, doubts are normal, not abnormal. In fact, I often feel like the father in Mark 9, “I do believe! Help my unbelief.” Instead of ignoring, suppressing or denying our doubts it is best to confront them and deal with them head on. Like the father: I do believe, help my unbelief.

This week’s focal passage deals with what I believe is often the root of doubt: fake solutions and false hopes.

First, notice that God invites us to come to Him when we have a need but no resources. “Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!” As I’ve said before, when something is repeated in scripture then pay attention to it. COME! If you’re thirsty, COME to the waters. When you have a need you go to the source that can satisfy the need. When you’re thirsty, come to the waters. 

Yes, it is an analogy but it is one I hope we all understand. When you’re thirsty, nothing can satisfy thirst like a long, cool drink of good water. When I’m really thirsty, I don’t want a soda. I don’t want a flavored drink or iced tea. I don’t want anything except a drink of cool water. When I’m hot, I might splash it on my face or pour it over my head. I might even jump in a deep pool of water. But when I’m thirsty, I want a long drink from a good, cool water source.

But did you notice, He didn’t just mention water. He also mentioned wine and milk. Each of these meets a different need we experience. You cannot live without water. Water is essential to life and is perfect when we’re dry, parched and thirsty. Milk is nutritional and, to borrow a phrase from my childhood, builds strong bones, healthy teeth and is good for you. Milk, it does a body good. Wine is what drink when we’re celebrating and building relationships. Water gives life, milk provides nutrition and wine brings joy. But as I said, this is really just an analogy. What is God really saying?

The real problem becomes clear in the next verse: “Why do you spend money on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy?” We are constantly looking for whatever we feel is missing in our lives and we often settle for things that do not and cannot satisfy. We spend most of our time, effort and money on things that cannot meet our true needs. Jesus told us that Satan is the father of lies and that God and His word are truth (see Jn. 8:44, 17:17). Some of his best lies keep us focused on these things that cannot meet our needs or satisfy our longings.

Many of Satan’s lies are designed to introduce noise and activity into our lives in an effort to drown out the truth God’s word and keep us too busy to recognize our emptiness. However, it is often in the quietness of solitude and contemplation that we truly hear the voice of God’s Spirit speaking truth and wisdom into our souls. Notice the next verse, “Pay attention and come to Me; listen, so that you will live (v. 3a).” God speaks to us through His Word and through His Spirit, and the two of them will always be in agreement. Don’t miss that last statement. God’s Spirit will NEVER lead you into anything that is in violation of God’s Word and His commandments (see 1 John).

“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act, making your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like the noonday. Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him; do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way, by the man who carries out evil plans.” (Psalms‬ ‭37‬:‭5‬-‭7‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

The world tells us, don’t just stand there – do something! But God may be telling us – don’t just do something – stand there. Wait, watch, see what only I can do (see Ps. 46:10). 

In verse 3, God tells His people to come, pay attention and listen to Him in order to live. We have a tendency to forget, deny or ignore the fact that life only exists in our creator. The Apostle John says of Jesus, “Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men.” (John‬ ‭1‬:‭4‬ ‭HCSB‬‬) We think life revolves around ourselves and we live out our lives fully committed to that belief. When we attempt to live life that way, we are missing out on real life, life as God meant for us to have. God’s not holding out on us. Forgive me for borrowing a phrase from an old country song: “We’re simply looking for life in all the wrong places.”

Most people seem to think life is found in wealth and possessions. Others think that life is found in human knowledge, skill and personal achievement. Many think life is found in personal status, position and power. In modern American culture, many believe life is found in their personal relationships and sexual identity. Every culture and every generation struggles with this question, but God’s answer is the same for all of them – real life is found only in Him and in His Word. That is essentially the message of Isaiah and the message I need you to hear and understand. Regardless of the lies Satan whispers in your ear and the world insists are true, the life you long for and that God has always intended for you to enjoy is found only in Him and His Word.

That’s the reason for the question posed in our focal passage and the answer God provides. “Why do you spend your money on what cannot satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods.” He is making an everlasting covenant that will fulfill the promises given to David and it is all wrapped up in what His obedient, suffering Servant, Jesus, does in our behalf. He won’t just provide water, though that is essential and a part of what He is doing. No, He will also provide milk and wine and the absolute best this world has to offer. You have to lay aside your own attempts at defining and creating a life for yourself and be willing to trust Him as you take up the life He offers to you through His indwelling Spirit. 

Finally, this vision of God’s Servant providing real life is bigger, so much bigger, than Israel imagined. “Since I have made Him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples, so you will summon a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you will run to you.” While Isaiah’s words were written to the people of Israel living in Babylonian exile, the message is big enough to include you, me and all of those who will trust in Jesus and believe the Gospel that He proclaimed.

A few weeks ago, I shared with you that I had been invited to preach at the chapel service for a prison ministry that a friend of mine leads. That ministry is providing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Ministry to incarcerated men. Yesterday, I attended the first graduation from this program. I watched and worshipped as 30 men wearing orange prison clothing under their black graduation gowns received their bachelor’s diplomas and became fellow alumni of my Alma Mater – Oklahoma Baptist University. These men will now become ministers of the gospel within the Oklahoma prison system and be dispersed all across the state.

The most incredible part of the entire graduation experience was seeing the excitement, joy, hope and love on the faces of these men and their families. They had drunk deeply from the living water and it was evident to all of us watching. Though most of them will remain prisoners for many more years, they have been set free in Jesus. They understand the true meaning of His words, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John‬ ‭8‬:‭32‬ ‭HCSB‬‬) They are living proof that God gives life, abundant life, apart from all of those things that our culture believes are essential. They were thirsty and they drank the water that Jesus offered and now a spring of living water has welled up within them and is splashing out on those all around them.

“Jesus said, ‘Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again — ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life.’” (John‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

If that’s not humbling, you’re not listening. What you think you need in your life to be happy, truly happy, are not those things that you’re drawn to and what our culture believes you need. It isn’t at all about fame, fortune, power and position. It is about experiencing the joy of life that is found in the presence of God and in obedience to His word.

I started today by telling you about a very difficult and very dark moment in my past. I pray you never have to go through that. But I do want to tell you what I found in the darkness, I found that Jesus had not abandoned me. My struggle really centered on my whether my faith was real or not. I knew what I was supposed to believe for I had been raised with a knowledge of the gospel and its truth. What I  lacked was the understanding of what Isaiah is teaching us in these chapters. I had to come to the understanding that my salvation is not based in anything I could do but it is entirely based on what Jesus did on my behalf. If I would place my faith in what He had done, then nothing and nobody could snatch me out of God’s hand. Once I drank from the water He offered, nobody would be able to stop the water from flowing out of me.

So, let me end by asking you about your doubts, your fears and your source of life. Are you believing the lies that Satan whispers and the world shouts at us, each day? He wants you to believe you will find life in anything else, but not Jesus. But God wants you to know you won’t find life in anything else, except Jesus. He also wants you to doubt your faith because doubt breeds fear, anxiety and silence. But God’s perfect love is able to drive fear out of your mind, calm your anxious spirit and give you a boldness in proclaiming the truth regarding Jesus and His saving grace. 

Don’t spend your money on what can’t satisfy the longing in your soul. But come, drink deeply from the living water that Jesus offers and discover that life is truly found in Him. If you will, you’ll enjoy the best God has to offer and it is SO much more than you and I deserve.