What An Invitation!
Opening Prayer
Lord, knowing You and having Your holy Word available to me gives me unimagined joy.
Read Isaiah 55:1-13
[1] “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. [2] 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. [3] Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. [4] See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples. [5] Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.” [6] Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. [7] Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. [8] “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. [9] “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. [10] As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, [11] so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. [12] You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. [13] Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.” Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Consider all of the ways God invites you into his presence.This is an amazing Gospel invitation in the heart of the Old Testament. It is a wide-open invitation. All who have any sense of need, all who are aware of any dissatisfaction in their lives, all are to come. Do not look in the wrong places for satisfaction (2)–come to the source of life. It is an urgent invitation (6). The call is to turn to God now, while we can. Do we share the sense of urgency that God has in his Gospel call? Have we become complacent in our efforts to introduce our family, friends and colleagues to Jesus? It is an incredibly surprising and intimate invitation, to experience the mercy and forgiveness of God and be reconciled to him (7). Can it be possible? It surely can be, because God is so different from us (9). He excels in showing mercy. God sends out his invitation, his Word, and it achieves great things (11)! It brings joy, it brings peace (“shalom”), it puts right everything that is wrong (12). Jesus takes these words of invitation and promises to give the Holy Spirit to all who come (John 7:37-39). The Spirit is the one who achieves great things in us and through us.
Apply
What is the most exciting invitation you’ve ever received? Consider how God’s invitation makes you feel special.
Closing prayer
Holy God, send Your Spirit afresh within me today. Thank You for Your Word, Your Son, and Your Spirit.
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