Come, All You Who Are Thirsty

(7 Steps To The Joy Of Salvation)

Isaiah 55:1-13

Key Verse 55:1

“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.”

In Psalm 16:11, King David said, “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” But King David did not specify what the path of life is all about. In the passage for today the Prophet Isaiah explains it, by inviting us to the spring of life, step by step. The path of life consists of seven steps. 

First, Come.

Look at verse 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.”

It has been said that a journey a thousand miles long begins with a single step. The first step we need take to secure the joy of salvation is to come to the Lord, for it is in the Lord that we can find what we need for life, that is, waters, wine, and milk. Here waters, wine, and milk refer to the spiritual provisions the Lord God offers to those who come to him. Waters refer to the springs of living water (Revelation 7:17). Wine stands for the joy of life (Isaiah 16:10; 24:11). Milk is what nurtures man, helping him grow strong and steady (1Pe 2:2). 

Physical drinks such as Arrowhead Springs Water or a bottle of wine from Napa Valley or a gallon of soy milk are not free. But spiritual food and drinks are different. No human being can make them. Because it is not available in markets, what the Lord offers should be priceless and invaluable. But, you can come and consume them for free. Why? It is because someone else has already paid for them. Who can that person be? 

The sad part however is that not all people take the first step; they do not come to the Lord for real food and real drinks. Why? Look at verse 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 your soul will delight in the richest of fare.” 

This passage says that we do not come to the Lord because we are distracted by so many attractive distractions, such as secular books, magazines, blogs, chatrooms, comedy shows, downloads, forums, movies, TV, video, internet, emails, and much more. There are also inner distractions: daydreaming, curiosity fueled by ungodly desires, inclinations of evil thoughts, all leading man farther away from the Lord. They disturb our relationship with the Lord; they divide our attention to the Lord. They distract us from the Lord and we are left distant from God, going farther away from the Lord. They cause within us moral dislocations, causing an upset to our relationship with the Lord and with our neighbors. And they are all enslaving; they make us weary and burdened; they make us thirsty for more. 

So we need to watch out for all these ungodly distractions. We need to turn our attention away from them and ensure that we give the Lord our undivided attention 24/7. 

Second, Give ear.

Now, having come to the Lord, the next thing we need to do is to give our ears to the Lord, so we can hear what the Lord has to say. Look at verse 3a. “Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.” The expression “hear me,” especially the word “me,” shows that having come to the Lord, we need to quiet our minds and give the Lord the opportunity to speak to us. 

When we give our full, undivided attention to the Lord, the Lord will speak to us and we can hear his voice. This leads us to a personal relationship with the Lord. Referring to this relationship, in verse 3b, the prophet Isaiah says, “I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.” So coming to the Lord and listening to him is the key to getting into a lasting relationship with the Lord.  

One person I know dated one of his classmates for 14 years. He met her at a Christian club at Seoul National University. After 14 years of dating, the two married. And they stay married for over 40 years. Another person I know dated a beautiful woman of faith in UBF for three days. In a week he married her. October 9 is their 35th wedding anniversary. But not all marriages result in lasting relationships. There is an interesting story about an old couple. They married in their twenties. They produced a lot of children. When they were in their eighties they divorced. One of their friends became curious and asked, “You guys enjoyed companionship for more than half a century. Why do you want to get a divorce?” The grandma said, “From day one of my marriage, I did not like this man, so I wanted to divorce; now that all of our children are married, I am free to go.” There is another interesting story: at a certain class reunion, a newlywed couple came out and said, “We are married.” One of their classmates asked, “Really? How long ago did you marry?” The couple replied, “Three months ago.” The man said, “Wow! I am very surprised because you guys have stayed married for so long.” 

One of the key reasons why people have difficulties in maintaining a lasting relationship with one another is because each person does not hear what his significant other has to say. 

But when we are in the Lord, things change drastically; we can go deeper and deeper in our relationship with the Lord, and then with our neighbors. Look at 3 again. “Give ear and come to me; hear me… I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.”

As we get into the everlasting relationship with the Lord, in his faithful love, the Lord binds us to him in love. Then the Lord leads us and uses us as witnesses to all peoples on earth. Speaking of the same vision, the prophet Isaiah says, “See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor." So each and every day let us exhort one another that we would hear the Lord, until we are deeply touched by his unfailing love. 

Third, Seek the Lord.

Hearing the Lord and getting into a deep relationship with him is NOT as easy as it seems, though. To do so, there are steps that need to be taken. Look at verse 6a, “Seek the LORD while he may be found.” 

On reading this passage a question arises: Why are we asked to “seek” the Lord? Is it because the Lord is playing hide and seek? The answer, of course, is “No.” In fact, it is not the Lord but we who play the game. The Lord is always out there looking for what is lost. We went astray, and are going farther away. So it seems as though the Lord is far away from us, when in fact it is we who are far away from the Lord. Thus we need to seek the Lord. 

The phrase, “While he may be found,” raises another question: Does this phrase mean that the Lord is going to take a long vacation so we need to hurry up to go and find him? Or does he operate like a college professor who maintains office hours? The answers to these questions are all “NO.” God does not take vacations. He does not maintain office hours; he is available 24/7. 

What then does it mean to seek the Lord while he may be found? It means this: if we do not value our relationship with him, and go our own way, God lets us go that way, so we cannot find him. The call to seek the Lord while he may be found is the call for us to secure the spiritual environments in which we can meet him more readily. Examples include QT (quiet time) in the morning, before, during, and after the Bible conference time, when we can meditate on his word intensively. Another way is to set private moments with the Lord, for prayer, personal Bible reading, or the reading of good spiritual books. 

Fourth, Call on him.

The next step is more in-depth. Look at verse 6b. “Call on him while he is near.” The expression “while he is near,” indicates that we are still not in a face to face relationship with the Lord. The relationship with the Lord is still remote and distant. But the Lord is near. It is at this point that we should not lose heart, but rather boldly press ahead to the throne of God’s glory, not through our own might or strength but through prayer! 

One of the reasons we need to pray is to overcome the keen sense of inadequacy, the sense of our total unworthiness before the Lord. As we come close to the Lord, we often feel that even our bones are decaying. On normal days we do not have this sensation. But the closer we come to the Lord the deeper the sense of unworthiness we are hit with. 

The prophet Isaiah had the same sensation when one day he entered the Lord’s temple and sensed the Lord being near him. He felt as if he would be put to death immediately, so he cried out, “Woe to me! I am ruined. I am a man of unclean lips, and [yet] I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!” Similarly, in Daniel 10:8, Daniel felt the same sensation when he drew near to the Lord in prayer: as the Lord drew near, he felt as if he was a dead man and had no strength left; his face turned deathly pale. Literally, he became like a dead person. 

But thank God for his mercy, for he provided us with the means to overcome our utterly corrupt state of being. As we offer prayers to the Lord, believing in his mercy, he gracefully forgives all our sins and allows us to have fellowship with Him. But before we are able to see the Lord face to face, there is another step that must be taken.  

Fifth, Forsake evil ways and thoughts.

Look at verse 7. “Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts.” It has been said, “Repentance is not the work of man, but the work of God.” This is true, for in the first place, unless the Lord reveals where we went wrong, we have no idea of what to repent of. As the Lord comes close to us, he reveals our repentance topics to us. 

What then are we to repent of? Look at verse 7 again. “Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts.” Notice the expression “his way” and “his thoughts.” His way refers to what we are and do in our external persons. “His thoughts” stand for what we are and do in our internal beings. In other words “his thoughts” refers to what is going on inside, and “his way” (or ways) refers to what we do in our daily life. The Lord wants us to forsake our wicked ways and evil thoughts.

Let us also notice the word “let.” This is an exhortation from the Lord. The Lord reveals our wicked and evil conditions but he is not going to force us to repent. He wants us to repent, for it is each of us who should repent. 

Sixth, Turn to the Lord.

This then leads us to the final step towards the presence of the Lord’s glory. Look at verse 7b. “Let him turn to the LORD…” Repentance is only half way to the Lord. The remaining half is to turn to the Lord. Practically however it is impossible for a corrupt sinner like us to fully turn to the Lord and have a face to face fellowship with the Lord, for Exodus 33:20 says, “No sinner can see the Lord and live.” 

How then can a sinful man turn to the Lord of glory, with the hope of living in his presence for good? Look at the remainder of the blessed verse 7, “… and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” The answer is to approach his throne of grace with absolute faith in his mercy, the mercy that freely forgives us of our sins. 

Through the Bible conference last week we saw that we have in Jesus this mercy – the mercy of his sin-forgiveness. When a man covered with leprosy came and fell before Jesus and prayed, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean,” in his mercy, Jesus touched him and said, “I am willing.” He not only cleansed him of his leprosy, but also forgave him of his sins. He showed the same grace to a woman caught in adultery saying, “Neither do I condemn you; leave the life of sin.” He showed the same grace to the Samaritan woman. Ultimately, he proved himself as the Son of the Merciful God by offering himself on a tree as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world! When we experience God’s mercy of sin-forgiveness, then we can rejoice in the Lord, and enjoy life in the eternal presence of God. 

Seventh, Go out in joy.

What will be the fruit of the life that is in the presence of the Lord? Look at verses 8-13. “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 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, 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. 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. Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.’” 

This passage can be expressed in this way: God’s blessings (which are far more satisfying than all that look good) flowing within us inside out. God fills us with his glory inside. As he transforms our inner person to be like him, he alters the external environment from that of curse to that of blessedness. So we are blessed inside and out. The joy of salvation is the order of every day. The kingdom of God grows within us. Then we are no longer thirsty and can live as sources of blessings for many. 

One word: Come, all you who are thirsty

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