You Are Included

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…Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live.
Isaiah 55:1,3 (NIVUK)

The good news of this invitation is that all are called to come, eat, drink, and live. To demonstrate all are included the author describes three types of people:

The thirsty – Those with a longing in their hearts, but their hopes have all but dried up. Dreams and hopes have died. They are empty, unfulfilled,
restless, and dissatisfied.
The broke – Those who see all the good things of life out of their reach. They can’t afford the things that they think might make them happy. They have no resources, no power, no physical strength. They are depressed with their lot in life.
The self-sufficient – Those who rely on their own resources and strength and power, who can ‘spend money’ and ‘labour’ but who come to realise that ultimately their own efforts do not provide real food that satisfies (v.2), and so are frustrated with life.

All humanity ultimately falls into one of these categories and the call to everyone is to come and listen to what God has to offer, to truly live. He provides:

Water – God will provide refreshment. When we are dehydrated it is water we need to revitalise and restore us.
Milk – God will nourish us. When someone is gasping for life you give them water, but if you want a baby to grow you give them milk. God invites us to come alive with water, and to grow and develop with milk.
Wine – God will give us exuberance and joy, richness, and exhilaration, that enables us to have life to the full.

All these provisions are found supremely in the Lord Jesus Christ: from him flow streams of living water (John 7: 37-38), and if we drink from it, we will never be thirsty again (John 4:14). Jesus is the bread of life who spiritually nourishes us so that we will never hunger again (John 6:35). And Jesus is the one who supplies the wine of joy in abundance (cf. John 2:1-11).

All our sufficiency is found in Jesus, and it is for all people, as Jesus said, ‘…I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ (John 12:32, emphasis mine). All the nations will be summoned (Isaiah 55:5). The thirsty, the broke and the self-sufficient, all are included, now that’s good news indeed.

Pastor Barry