New Morning Mercies #99

God uses the picture of physical food to point to universal spiritual hunger. Life is all about what we look to to fill us.

“Come, everyone who thirsts,

come to the waters;

and he who has 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 diligently to me, and eat what is good,

and delight yourselves in rich food.

Incline your ear, and come to me;

hear, that your soul may live;

and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,

my steadfast, sure love for David.

Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,

a leader and commander for the peoples.

Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,

and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,

because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,

for he has glorified you.

“Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near;

let the wicked forsake his way,

and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” (Isa. 55:1–7)

They are beautiful words of invitation and grace. And they are spoken in a language that we can all understand. We all know what it’s like to be hungry, and we all know what it’s like to consume a meal that just doesn’t satisfy. The Bible uses this powerful food metaphor because its authors were zealous to alert you to the fact that there is a deeper hunger within you than the physical hunger with which you are so familiar. Yes, your body hungers to be filled, but your soul hungers even more. This is true for all of us, and because it is, every person who has ever lived has worked to satisfy the hunger of his soul in some way. The important thing to know is that there are only two banquet tables from which you can eat: the costly, unsatisfying table of the physical world or the soul-satisfying table of the Lord of abundant mercy and grace. God’s question for you today is this: “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” It is a question worth considering.

For further study and encouragement: John 6