October 12 – Your Soul’s Delight (Isaiah 55:1-7)

“Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?”(Isaiah 55:2)

IN WORD:
We like to think we have a lot of resources at our disposal: a plan for the future, a diverse portfolio, a wealth of friends & family, a strategy for personal security, frequent entertainment, and more. Subtly and imperceptibly, our faith begins to shift from the God who gave us these things to our ownership of these things. Before long, we are imbibing secular wisdom and humanistic strategies for success, health, and welfare. We seek all our comforts without reference to God, except for our prayer that he will support our agenda. This path from God-reliance to self-reliance is surprisingly short in its distance, but very, very tragic in its implications.
God’s penetrating question through Isaiah calls us to a better way. Why, when we have the God of all resources in our intimate fellowship, would we place our faith in the resources themselves? Perhaps that’s the problem — we aren’t in intimate fellowship with Him. It’s easier to pursue self-sufficiency, we think, than to pursue the invisible God. But human ingenuity falls woefully short. We will find that out before long, if we haven’t already.

IN DEED:
Why do we seek wisdom from any source other than God? Why do we trust in provision from the work of our own hands? Why do we find our security more in our human relationships than in our holy Father? The answers are part of the mystery of fallenness. Just as their sin drove the Israelites away from their covenant with God, so does ours. Supernatural faith becomes naturally corrupt all too quickly. Finite minds and fickle hearts are always in need of redirection.
God gives us His direction. He implores us to embrace it. It is the only way to life. It alone will delight our soul. It takes hold of His everlasting faithfulness. Is that so hard to remember? Our discipleship must always involve turning to what is truly bread and laboring for what really satisfies — daily, hourly, and moment by fulfilling moment.

“God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame.”
-Elizabeth Barrett Browning-