April 28

"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." Isaiah 55:1.

What a beautiful invitation! Two articles are for sale: milk, symbolic of abundance and the essentials of life, and wine, the emblem of that which cheers and inspires. The price we pay is no price: "Nothing in my hand I bring." It is an unconditional gift. We are not to pay for our salvation with any kind of works, for it is an insult to the grace of God. Indeed, it is our very emptiness which recommends us. Our destitution is His restitution. "Open wide your mouth and I will fill it." Psalm 81:10b. We are not speaking of temporal blessings here: "Wine, water, and milk are figurative representations of spiritual revival, recreation, and nourishment." Delitzsch.

Who are invited? We are all of us who hunger and thirst for His righteousness. We are invited who have no money no gold of goodness and no silver of sanctity of our own. It is for those of us who are impoverished. God understands our material wants, too: "Come, come, come, My people! I know that your physical needs must be met so that your spiritual needs may be fulfilled, too."

"I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see." Revelation 3:18. We are never such desperate sinners that we cannot heed the gracious call and counsel of our Savior to buy our salvation with a broken and contrite heart. All else fails. "Come and buy of Me the treasure of peace and joy that only I can give you."

"...Having nothing, and yet possessing everything" 2 Corinthians 6:10.

Pat Nordman ©


April 29

" Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap." Ecclesiastes 11:4; "If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done." TLB.

If we wait until we are sure our kindness won't be ridiculed and that it will accomplish what we intended, we won't be kind; if we don't give needed money to another person until we know what the person will do with it, and we know the history of the individual who is to receive it, we will never give it; if we wait for someone to be worthy of our love, we will never be his or her friend; and if we want to be sure that our donation for a project will not be mismanaged and that it will bring off the good we intend, then we will never get around to donating. In the secular world we are content to act on possibilities and potentials, so why not in the world of religion and ethics?

We are to be prospective, not prostrate, about our duties. Jesus tells us we are to have forethought: "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?" Luke 14:28. This is common sense. But we are not to think something to extinction because we haven't all the resources at hand right then. If we concentrate too much on the trial the black cloud then we won't act now on what later will bring a harvest of sunrises and rainbows. There comes a bleak moment when we must forge ahead in faith that "[our] strength will equal [our] days" Deuteronomy 33:25.

The clouds are beyond our reach; what we have before us is attainable. There is a comfortable median between the extremes of optimism and pessimism; it is called realism and faith is a comfortable fundamental of this fact. Instead of worrying about successes others have and we don't, let's be ever so grateful for God's cornucopia of blessings!

Pat Nordman ©

Today's Bible Question ?

What people even put sackcloth on their animals when they repented?

Previous question and Answer: What famous rabbi was Paul's teacher? Gamaliel (Acts 22:3)

Today's  Devotion

 

Except Through Me       "Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. " John 14:6

Many people are put off by the exclusivist of Christianity. They are angered that Jesus is the only way. God sent His only Son to die the death of a criminal. The Son took all the sins of the world upon Him as he died on the cross. God the father, dearly loved this only son. If there had been another way, would God not have chosen that way. We cannot diminish the sacrifice of God’s Son, Jesus. His sacrifice was for us. His sacrifice was the only way. Salvation is through Jesus alone. "No one can come to the Father except through [Jesus.]" I am reminded of a story told by J. Vernon McGee. He spoke of his love for school at an early age. He quickly learned to read. Math was another subject he enjoyed. He learned that 2 + 2 = 4. This was one simple law of math. The teacher would accept no other answer for the question. 2 + 2 always equals four. The teacher would not accept 3.99. 4.01 was not acceptable. The answer for 2 + 2 was always four and only four. As he grew older, the answer did not change. The answer for 2 +2 was the only answer accepted. When he balanced his checkbook, the bank only accepted this answer. When he filed his income tax, the IRS only accepted 2 + 2 = 4. There is no exception. The exclusive answer to 2 + 2 is 4. It is true, 2 + 2 = 4 and only 4. It is the truth and it is exclusive. The truth is exclusive. If it is the truth, if it is a fact – there is one exclusive answer. Jesus is THE answer. He is THE way, THE truth and THE life. No one go to the Father except through Jesus. There is nothing wrong with being exclusive. The way to God is a fact. It is an absolute. Believe it, it’s true. You wouldn’t want it any other way. Jesus is not A way but the true and ONLY way. We cannot be ashamed, or surprised, by the exclusiveness of this truth. We cannot afford to allow ourselves to believe differently. We cannot risk letting our friends and family believing anything short of this truth. We must boldly proclaim this fact – this truth, Jesus is the only way to the father. Just as 4 is the exclusive answer for 2 + 2, Jesus proclaimed himelf as the only way to the Father and eternal life. If you have not accepted Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, why not do so now. Enjoy your first breath as a new creation. Take your first joyful breath in eternal life in Jesus.   PBB

If Christ is born a thousand times in Bethlehem and not in thee, then art thou lost forever. Angelus Silesius, Cherubic Pilgrim, 1650's

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