Food For Thought: Isaiah 55:1-3 Part III

Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has not money, come buy and eat! Come by 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?

NO MONEY
The call to come is for those who have no money. What happened to it? I think that a few thoughts could fit ... (1) the person had counterfeit money which is no money at all, (2) the person never was given money, or (3) the person had spent all of the money. The latter seems to fit well. Why do we have no money? Because we have spent it ... yet we have spent it on that which does not satisfy, because I am asking from it what it only points to rather than gives.

I THOUGHT IT WAS BREAD
When I look for substance in the shadow I will never be satisfied. Food, relationships, work, clothing, buildings, nature ... all these things are emblems ... road signs that point to a greater reality a higher satisfaction.

To be satisfied in the emblem and not the substance is like a man getting filled on magazine pictures of bread. He sees the food and then gorges himself with the print outs, but is never satisfied. He thinks it is "bread" but can never get enough. He continues to spend his money on the pictures ... and even begins to "bake" the pictures ... but it never satisfies him.

Imagine a family going on a trip to the Estes National Park in Colorado ... as they are driving to the park they come across the sign which reads "Estes Park Ahead" and instead of being guided by the sign they mistake it for their destination. The whole family jumps out of the van and they take gobs of photos and video footage of them by the sign. Then, "satisfied" that they made it, they return home ... we laugh ... but do we not do that with the blessings of God? Do we not spend our money on that which is not bread and labor for that which does not satisfy? We hope it will deliver, but it never does. Why? We are asking from it, what it was never meant to produce. It is a sign, pointing to the real Bread ... are we willing to go?