Invitation for the thirsty

“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.
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.
Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.


Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

Isaiah 55:1-7

Let us love each other

One of the most difficult things about being a believer or even a non-believer is the question of motivation. In the Christian sense, we love because God is love, he teaches us to love, and because he first loved us. In the non-christian sense, I don't know - maybe it's just the American thing to do.

This is always the big question for me. I hang out with people all the time who are completely centered on satisfying their desires. They talk about money, women (yeah the negative side of this), cars, boats, expensive foods, etc... And why not? It is their right to chase these things.

And am I surprised when they get all mad about one thing or another? Not really. It seems their nature to take what is given and complain about the rest. We all know people like this. Why are there such vast differences between this type of person and a more compassionate non-God fearing person? I don't know.

But here is what I do know. This verse from 1 John 4:7 suggests that everyone that loves does know God. Interesting if you are a non-believer and are reading this ...

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. —1 John 4:7

Coming in fear, coming for healing

There was a time when God apparently brought his awesome self into the world and was very near to people. There was the time before the fall (walking with Adam) and after the fall (walking with the Israelites).

Before, all was well and they could talk and interact without fear, but once "sin" entered the world, being close to God was dangerous. The Bible talks about people that die because they don't follow his instructions carefully. So even doing what seems right in their eyes (adding another smoke offering or trying to keep the ark of the covenant from tipping over) led to death.

As a result, people feared approaching God.

Then, Jesus comes - God in the flesh. A baby, a boy, a man. Someone like you and me who teaches us how we were supposed to live. Not only did people not fear coming to Jesus, they flocked to Him. And instead of being killed for touching him, they were healed.

So, it seems that Jesus is the "safe" way to God.

The Bible says that when we accept Jesus, he becomes the mediator between God and us. Well, it certainly worked when he was walking around Israel all those years ago. I believe it works today.

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16