"And he who has no money, come, buy and eat..."
The invitation to "come" is for everyone who thirsts (part I) and everyone who has "no money." These are both humble postures of need. The person who thirsts, needs water. The person who is poor, needs money. Those who are satisfied won't come for they are no longer thirsting. Those who's accounts are full won't come for they are not in need.
The thirsty and the needy
How desperate am I? In Worship by Bob Kauphlin he tells of a time when he was depressed and despondent. As he lamented to a friend of his about his desperation, he expected the man to respond with the usual Christian encouragement of "everything will be alright, God is in control." Instead, the friend looked at him and told him straight, "The problem is not that you are desperate, its that you are not desperate enough." Those who are desperate despair in any self-reliance and fly to Christ as their strength and joy. Why do I not take to flight? I am still relying upon myself. I am not desperate enough.
The paradox
Notice that the invitation is to those who have "no money" ... yet the command is for them to "buy and eat." How can a person with no money buy food to eat? Today when a person has no cash they just buy it with a credit card ... in other words they don't pay for it, they accumulate a debt! In the case of the illustration, the credit agency is the one to whom the debt is owed, but in Isaiah, the lender of LORD. In other words, God commands us to become more in debted to him, to rely not upon our selves and our own "money" which is nothing more than "monopoly money." We are to see that in reality we have no money that can purchase real food. Thus we must come to God, not to give but to get and so go deeper and deeper in debt to God.
It is the lender who receives the glory and honor for his generosity and provision and it is the debtor who receives the joy and provision of his needs. Therefore it can be stated: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.
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