Without Cost - January 23 Readings: Isaiah 55

We are going to "enter the year with praise." Our January readings and devotionals will all focus on the goodness and grace of God. Get a journal or notebook to write down your thoughts every day. Our passages are shorter - please don't rush through them. Take time to meditate and consider why God is worthy of your praise.

Enter 2020 with the praise of God on your lips!

Today's Praise Passage:  Isaiah 55

“Come, everyone who is thirsty,come to the water;and you without silver,come, buy, and eat!Come, buy wine and milkwithout silver and without cost!2 Why do you spend silver on what is not food,and your wages on what does not satisfy?Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,and you will enjoy the choicest of foods.3 Pay attention and come to me;listen, so that you will live.I will make a permanent covenant with youon the basis of the faithful kindnesses of David.4 Since I have made him a witness to the peoples,a leader and commander for the peoples,5 so you will summon a nation you do not know,and nations who do not know you will run to you.For the Lord your God,even the Holy One of Israel,has glorified you.” 6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;call to him while he is near.7 Let the wicked one abandon his wayand the sinful one his thoughts;let him return to the Lord,so he may have compassion on him,and to our God, for he will freely forgive. 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,and your ways are not my ways.”This is the Lord’s declaration.9 “For as heaven is higher than earth,so my ways are higher than your ways,and my thoughts than your thoughts.10 For just as rain and snow fall from heavenand do not return therewithout saturating the earthand making it germinate and sprout,and providing seed to sowand food to eat,11 so my word that comes from my mouthwill not return to me empty,but it will accomplish what I pleaseand will prosper in what I send it to do.” 12 You will indeed go out with joyand be peacefully guided;the mountains and the hills will break into singing before you,and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.13 Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will come up,and instead of the brier, a myrtle will come up;this will stand as a monument for the Lord,an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.

Through the Bible Reading: Genesis 47–48, Matthew 15:1–9, Psalm 14:4–7, Proverbs3:13-18

Some of our readers want a little more "meaty" devotional, so I am including a link to the through Through the Bible in One Year readings we did last year. 

Devotional: Without Cost

The entire prophecy of Isaiah is filled with messianic foreshadowings, verses that are familiar because they are applied to our Lord and Savior in the New Testament. Isaiah 7's "Immanuel" prophecy. Isaiah 9 and the names of Jesus. Dozens of others.

But the pinnacle, perhaps, is reached in chapters 52 and 53, which gives a remarkable prophecy of the death of Christ by crucifixion. Chapters 55-56, continue this theme by emphasizing, in a prophetic way, some of the elements of the gospel. Today, we focus on the powerful message of Isaiah 55.

Isaiah 55:1 speaks to the principle of grace.

Come, everyone who is thirsty,
come to the water;
and you without silver,
come, buy, and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without silver and without cost!

The root of the gospel is the recognition of sin. Jesus said that it was the poor in spirit who would be blessed. To experience the goodness of God, we must recognize our sin, our absolute inability to provide our own spiritual sustenance. We must recognize our thirst and hunger for God and come to him for what only he can give. 

This is a beautiful picture of grace. We buy what we need to survive, but we buy it "without cost." That which we need for righteousness and eternal life is ours in Christ - and it doesn't cost us a thing. Why? Because "Jesus paid it all!"

Verses 6 and 7 are an OT invitation. 

Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call to him while he is near.
 Let the wicked one abandon his way
and the sinful one his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord,
so he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will freely forgive.

Throughout the New Testament, sinners are admonished to do two things - repent and believe. Here, sinful Israel is called on to seek God with all their hearts and to abandon their sin in repentance. Whether for sinners coming to faith in Christ or for believers who are seeking greater intimacy, repentance is a necessary part of the process of seeking God. 

The proverb says that there is a way that seems right to a man, but it ends in death. It seems to us that we should earn the favor of God, that our good works should contribute to things. We have all sorts of human assumptions about the way of the world that we make. But Isaiah 55:8-9 (one of my favorite passages) says, 

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not my ways.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
 “For as heaven is higher than earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God is smarter than we are and has designed a system of salvation and sanctification based on his logic, not ours. My destiny is not based on my good works (or sins) as I naturally think it should be, but only on the grace of God, who does for me what I cannot do for myself. 

There is one more part of this passage we need to remember, extending to Isaiah 56:10, which reveals the heart of God. 

“This is because my Temple will be called 

    a house for prayer for people from all nations.”

God's work in us always points to the nations. He saves us because of his love for us, but also because of his love for the entire world. The temple was supposed to be a house of prayer, but not just for me and mine - for the NATIONS! God has his eyes on the world. And our lives, redeemed and sanctified by the grace of God are called to reflect God's heart for the whole world. 

Father, I thank you that I am saved by your grace and made holy in it. May I live by your wisdom and let my life be a beacon to the world. 

Think and Pray:

Meditate on this passage and write down:

1. The character qualities of God for which you can praise him. 

2. The gracious acts of God for which you can give thanks to him. 

Remember the gracious work of God that came to you "without cost." You are saved by grace through faith, not by your own merit or works.
Recommit yourself to the way of God, to his wisdom.
How can you be used for the purposes of God in the nations?