If you’re new to Eastertide Song Reflections, click here to learn about it
Click here to follow the Eastertide Song Reflections playlist on Spotify
Visit Archived Resources for the Lenten Song Reflections 2021
Day Nineteen
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could say that every time we found ourselves depleted and weary we looked to the Lord for the renewal and refreshing that we needed?
If only that were so.
But we are human, and in this life we are still prone to run after things that we think will satisfy us, but don’t. Instead of coming to the living waters that God offers, we dip our toes in fountains of false promises, only to discover that they leave us just as empty as we started…sometimes even more so.
The prophet Isaiah speaks to this human tendency, pairing it with an invitation similar to the one we heard yesterday:
“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.
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.
Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.”—Isaiah 55:1-3a (NIV)
It’s a pointed and penetrating question: Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Sometimes that question comes to us through a prophetic voice, a pastor or a friend, but sometimes the voice asking is our own. When we find ourselves looking back on experiences and seasons when we have sought to meet our hunger and thirst outside of God, the regret and shame can be overwhelming.
Why did we do that?
Why did we give ourselves to something so empty and unfulfilling?
How could we believe, even for a moment, that it would give us what we need?
But when we find ourselves broken and spent, the invitation is still there. We may have ignored it for a time, but it never left. That still, small voice still beckons:
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.
Listen, 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 you may live.
We may have poured ourselves out onto a false and powerless altar, but God doesn’t just look at us and say, “Tsk! Tsk! Now you’ve done it, haven’t you? You don’t have anything left to offer, so I guess I don’t have anything to offer you.”
No, instead he welcomes us and tells us that our spiritual bankruptcy is not a hindrance:
“If you are thirsty, come here;
come, there’s water for all.
Whoever is poor and penniless can still
come and buy the food I sell.
There’s no cost—here, have some food, hearty and delicious,
and beverages, pure and good.”—Isaiah 55:1 (VOICE)
Our false pursuits have a cost, but they don’t disqualify us from God’s grace. The waters are still available to you, no matter how far you’ve wandered from the river. Will you hear the invitation to come, repent, and find once again all that you need for your renewal and restoration?
Come, you who are thirsty
Come to the waters
And you, who have no money
Come, and buy and eat
Read the rest of the lyrics here.
Questions for Reflection
1) What things that are “not bread” and efforts that “do not satisfy” are prone to pull you away from the river of life God provides? What lies do they tell that somehow speak to you, and what makes you susceptible to them? Spend some time in prayer and honest conversation with God, asking for clarity of vision to see them for what they are.
2) Are you prone to shame and regret, thinking that God will turn you away for your empty pursuits? If you are, speak honestly with God about it while you contemplate the promise of Scripture:
“For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.”—Psalm 86:5 (ESV)
3) Spend some time contemplating this quote from biblical scholar Derek Kidner:
“In themselves, and rightly used, the basic things of life are sweet and good….What spoils them is our hunger to get out of them more than they can give.”
4) Once again, we sit with a song that uses pure Scripture for its lyrics. How does the Word of God keep us close to the true, living water?
5) Read and reflect on this passage of Scripture. Let it lead you into prayerful worship and gratitude:
“Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
Fear the Lord, you his godly people,
for those who fear him will have all they need.
Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry,
but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.”—Psalm 34:8-10 (NLT)