All of you who are thirsty, come to the water! Whoever has no money, come, buy food and eat!
—Isaiah 55:1
If you were invited to a fancy five-star restaurant, free of charge, no strings attached, would you go? You’re not going to be pressured to buy a time-share or form a co-op, you’re simply going to mingle with others and have some fabulous food, and your host will take care of it all. Well, the invitation is an open one, and you’re invited every day to come to the feast. It’s a standing invitation and allows you to bring friends along too if you’d like. All you have to be is a little bit thirsty.
One writer said, “I was dying of thirst. When my spiritual eyes were opened I saw the rivers of living water flowing from his pierced side. I drank of it and was satisfied. Thirst was no more. Ever since I have always drunk of that water of life, and have never been athirst in the sandy desert of this world.”
God never wants you to thirst. He alone knows the way to the living waters, the place that will make your soul come alive and open the eyes of your heart. He invites you with each sunrise to come to his table, to start your day with him so that you will not thirst in the desert of this world. It’s a good day to be refreshed and renewed in him. Come to the feast!
Come to the banquet God sets before you every day and thirst no more.
RENEWED FOR A PURPOSE
Lord, thank you for always inviting me to your table. I come with great joy and gratitude today. Amen.
The Place of Sacrifice
All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory, but all are treated as righteous freely by his grace because of a ransom that was paid by Christ Jesus. Through his faithfulness, God displayed Jesus as the place of sacrifice where mercy is found by means of his blood.
—Romans 3:23-25
What if getting into heaven was your job? According to this Scripture, all have sinned and have fallen short of God’s glory. That means none of us would have a free pass.
That does present a dilemma, because we like to think that we’re clever enough or smart enough, or maybe even religious enough, that we could at least get up to the door. Unfortunately, even if we got to the door, we might find a sign that said “Sorry, no room at the inn.”
God didn’t make the way back home quite that perilous. The truth is, the way back has been taken care of and your ticket has been purchased. All you have to do is redeem it. God alone made the sacrifice, the pure, loving, all-for-one, one-for-all sacrifice, and so we all have a way home again. Today, as you use your skills and talents to do the work you do, keep in mind this one thing: you’re free. You’re free to be everything you can be because you have a ticket to get back home. All you have to do is pick it up and thank your Redeemer.
Thank Jesus that his sacrifice gives you freedom to get back “home.”
RENEWED FOR A PURPOSE
Lord, thank you for not leaving the ride home up to me. I know I’d never find a way to get there. Thank you for your grace and your mercy. Amen.
God’s Plans for Your Good
I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the LORD; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope. When you call me and come and pray to me, I will listen to you. When you search for me, yes, search for me with all your heart, you will find me.
—Jeremiah 29:11-13
When you’ve made your plans and filled in your to-do list, but all you accomplish is the right to watch your plans go up in smoke, or you check off just one thing on a list, it might be good to go back and remember whose you are. Go back to your Source of all that is good, get on your knees, and let him know that you’ve been wandering a bit too long on your own, and you really need his help. Search for him! If you do that, God promises to answer, to share the things he has in mind for you and to give you what you need. All things are possible with God, and most things are slippery slopes without him. He doesn’t want you to live in fear or challenge you with one disaster after another; he simply wants you to give him your heart. He’ll provide all you need from that point on.
Search for God with all your heart and he will give you all you need.
Hang this thought on the mirror of your heart today, and reflect the joy only God can give you.
RENEWED FOR A PURPOSE
Lord, thank you for bringing me back to you and for giving me hope. I look forward to all that you have planned for my life and I’m grateful. Amen.
Sharing Your Jesus
Therefore, everyone who acknowledges me before people, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven. But everyone who denies me before people, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
—Matthew 10:32-33
Probably most of us are comfortable sharing our faith in those settings where such discussions are natural and easy. We can talk about Jesus freely at church or at our weekly Bible study, but what about those unexpected places? What about talking about Jesus with your new friend over coffee at Starbucks or with your old friend at the football stadium?
It’s hard in the same way that getting up in front of a crowd of people and making a speech is hard. It’s hard because we’re suddenly feeling almost naked as we reveal something about ourselves that those people might not have known about us before. We are suddenly vulnerable to their ridicule or to their assertion that religion is a private matter.
The truth for us is that God wants us to talk about him. He wants us to share the incredible gift we have in him, our future in heaven, our present opportunity for forgiveness, our sense of well-being because we have a great relationship with him.
Be willing to talk about God with others when you have the opportunity to do so.
It’s okay to talk about the love of your life. You have an open invitation to do so.
