What’s missing? Isaiah 55
Intro
It’s an amazing time that we live in. Technology allows us to travel the globe without ever leaving our living room. In our pocket we have a device that can answer virtually any question that we can come up with. We have Social media that connects us to family members and friends that may be miles away. We have accessible healthcare, clean water, food, clothing, online, in stores and on every corner. It’s an amazing time. The stock market has broken record after record and the DOW is currently at 25,000+.
Big Idea - Yet for all of this we are empty, something is missing.
We are connected through social media, yet distant in real life.
We are full and our cabinets and refrigerators fully stocked, but we are still hungry and can never find what we want.
We are clothed, but still wanting the latest fashion and fad.
We have all the answers at the swipe of a finger, the stroke of a key but we still are wondering around unfulfilled and feeling clueless.
In their book “The Choice” Thomas Trask and Wayde Goodall made the following statement:
“These are times of:
Fast food but slower digestion, Tall buildings but short tempers, Large computers but small people, Steep incomes but shallow values, National peace but domestic violence, Faster planes but slower progress, Greater knowledge but less satisfaction, Longer lines but higher prices, more leisure but less fun, Newer TV shows but more boredom, Conquering outer space but not inner space, Two incomes but more divorces, Fewer children but more problems, Adding years to life but not life to years, Making more copies but having less to say, Taking more vitamins but having more colds, Being charged more but owning less
These are the times of:
Quick fixes but no satisfaction, Disposable diapers, Throw-away morality, Overweight bodies, High prices, Low morals, Narrow minds, Full stomachs….but empty faces….These are the times.”
Sadly this is a pretty adequate summary of where we are as a society, but why? If the answer was obvious, wouldn’t it be readily available? Don’t you think that it would be on the airwaves, on the internet, on every corner, in the book store? Well the answer is, it is? As a matter of fact there is an entire aisle at Book a Million where you can find the answer over and over. It can be found on the T.V. on the Radio, and on every corner here in the Bible belt. The answer to what we are missing is God. So what does God say to us in Isaiah 55?
1. An incredible Invitation – Isaiah 55:1 “Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
a. The source of the invitation – God is crying out to us - "Ho! - this is the gospel note; a short, significant appeal, urging you to be wise enough to attend to your own interests. Oh, the condescension of God! That he should, as it were, become a beggar to his own creature, and stoop from the magnificence of his glory to cry, 'Ho!' to foolish and ungrateful men!" (Spurgeon) - If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. (John 7:37)
b. The recipients of the invitation – “Everyone who thirsts” “You who have no money”
2. A Powerful Provision – Isaiah 55:1 “Waters….Buy….Eat….wine….milk…..without money, without price.” - In the world if you drink water you will thirst again – but He’s offering more than that – John 4:13-15 – So why are we still empty?
* The Hungry Caterpillar – “But he was still hungry….”
3. An unrealized expectation –
Isaiah provides the following insight in Isaiah 55:2 “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.”
Haggai 1:6 “You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.” How many of you have ever had more month at the end of the money than money at the end of the month?
Even though the answer is there, right in front of us, we ignore it. We choose money as a source of happiness, failed relationships, careers that will leave us empty, old and worn out one day. None of these things are bad in themselves, but without God they are emptiness. With God, they become blessing, Love and Ministry.
Our problem is priority, we fail to put God first and foremost in all we do and as a result we don’t get all that He intends for us to get out of life, love, relationships, career and even our finances. “Seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and ALL these things will be added unto you.” He is first!
Isaiah continued in Isaiah 55 with the answer we are looking for:
Isaiah 55:7-11
Here is the answer – Seek God, Put Him first and keep Him first! It sounds simple and it is, but without Him, life becomes unbearable. Let’s take a deeper look at those verses and see that there is a -
4. A Strong Stipulation – Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon him while He is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God for He will abundantly pardon.”
a. Seek – intentionality – priority – what’s the first thing you do every day?
b. Call – Prayer – petitioning – what is your desire? Tell it to Jesus.
c. Forsake – thoughts, habits, bad relationships. What habit do you have that’s preventing you from a closer walk with the LORD?
d. Return – Repentance, renewal, revival.
5. A Terrific Testimony – Isaiah 55:8-13
a. Change your mind – “My thoughts are not your thoughts”
b. Change your ways – “Neither are my ways your ways”
c. Share the Gospel – “…seed to the sower..” vrs 10
d. Hunger for the things of God – “bread to the eater….” Vrs 10
e. Trust in God and you will not fail – Isaiah 55:11-13
Is something missing this morning? Do you feel empty at times? Make 2018 an awesome year by trusting in the LORD and seeing what He can do with your life.
