Verse of the Day Devotion Isaiah 55:1 

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy, and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost.” – Isaiah 55:1 

This verse opens with a call for attention. The Hebrew exclamation hôy, usually indicating a lament, can also be a way of hailing people and is expressed in our translation as meaning “you there”. God, through Isaiah, is calling the people to listen to what He is about to say.  He calls for everyone who is thirsty to come and drink. Thirst here has the idea of intense desire and is thus applied to the sense of want which sinners often have, and to their anxious wishes for salvation. It is not improbable that the Savior had this passage in his mind when he pronounced the blessing on those who desire strongly, righteousness. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6.  No needs are so keen, none demanded, as those of hunger and thirst. They occur daily; and when longing continued, as in the case of those who are shipwrecked and doomed to wander months or years over burning sands with scarcely any drink or food, nothing is more distressing. Hence, the figure is often used to denote any intense desire for anything, and especially an ardent desire for salvation. We also see this picture in Psalms where David said, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for Thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?” Psalm 42:1-2.

And then, He states after this to come and eat and drink.  There is no cost, therefore all can be satisfied.  In this world, those things that are most desired cost the most.  However, in the Kingdom of God, all is free for those who seek God with all their hearts.  There is nothing we should desire more than the salvation God provided through Christ.  And God provided this free of charge for those who will simply accept it.  “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Romans 10:9-10.   

Then in verse two we read, “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.” Isaiah 55:2. Too often, people let money take up all their time and strength, and inevitably their life. And they ignore or do not understand what is truly important.  And what is truly important has no earthly cost but is of infinite value, which exceeds those things which can never nourish or satisfy you, such as worldly goods and pleasures. And as John Wesley put it, “Eat ye – That which is truly and solidly, and everlastingly good. In fatness – In this pleasant food of gospel enjoyments.”

This is the message the world needs to hear, and we as Jesus’ disciples are the ones called to tell them. And then, we are to train them how to live this life that is pleasing to God.  “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28: 19-20.  Jesus has told His disciples to make disciples who make disciples who make disciples …” ad infinitum. This is what Jesus wants of us.  To help the lost see that what the world has to offer is absolutely insignificant compared to what God has provided by Jesus Christ paying the penalty for us that we could never pay.  And then for these to go out and do the same, ad infinitum.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.