DOES DRINK & FOOD MATTER?

1. Scripture text: Isaiah  55:1, 2, 6, 8-11

a) Isaiah 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."

i) A spring of water that satisfies the thirst.

@1. 7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." 11"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?" 13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 15The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." (John 4:7-15 NIV)

ii) Rivers of living water that bubble up from within.

@1. 37On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." 39By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:37-39 NIV)

b) Isaiah 55: 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."

c) Isaiah 55: 6 "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near."

i) Food costs money, lasts only for a short time, and meets only physical needs. But God offers us free nourishment that feeds our souls.ii) How do we get it?

@1. We come to him (Isaiah 55: 1).

@2. We listen to him (Isaiah 55: 2).

@3. We seek and call on him (Isaiah 55: 6).

ii) God's salvation is freely offered, but to nourish our souls we must eagerly receive it. We will starve spiritually without this food as surely as we will starve physically our daily bread.

d) Isaiah 55: 8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord."

e) Isaiah 55: 9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

i) The people of Israel were foolish to act as if they knew what God was thinking and planning.

ii) God's knowledge and wisdom are far greater than man's.

iii) We are foolish to try to fit God into our mind - to make his plans and purposes conform to ours. Instead, we must strive to fit into his plans and purposes.

f) Isaiah 55: "10As 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,"

g) Isaiah 55: "11so 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." (Isaiah 55:1, 2, 6, 8-11 NIV)

i) For I (Paul) am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. (Romans 1:16 NIV)

ii) Like the rain and snow that water the earth and make it bring out and bud that it may give to the sower and bread to the eater.

iii) Likewise, the word of God that goes out shall accomplish and prosper the things it intended.

2. Prayer focus

a) Pray that we come, listen, seek and call upon God to get free nourishment for our souls.

b) Pray that we strive to fit into his plans and purposes so that we may quench our thirst and enjoy the abundant life.