Free Food!

Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
and you that have no money,come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.

Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way,and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Isaiah 55:1-3, 6-12

This passage really touched me today. It is full of the beauty and mystery of God, and full of grace. I really love the part about buying wine and milk without price. Especially when I hear of more people losing their jobs, the stock market being down, and the generally bad economic news that is so common these days.

It is a good reminder that God's love is free.

God's love and God's word are wonderful gifts to us. Gifts that, according to God, won't be wasted. God's word won't return empty, but will accomplish what it is meant to, just as the WORD (Jesus) accomplished what he was meant to do- to bring us to God by becoming human, living, dying, and living again.

If you are thirsty, come to the waters of God's word. Remember the waters of your baptism. If you are bankrupt, financially or spiritually, may these words fill you up with hope, joy and peace. God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and God's ways are not our ways. Thanks be to God for that.

May you see God's riches and blessings in your life today.