Covenantal Promises

Covenantal Promises
​Isaiah 55:1-8 MSG

“Hey there! All who are thirsty, come to the water!  Are you penniless?  Come anyway—buy and eat!  Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk.  Buy without money—everything’s free!  Why do you spend your money on junk food, your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?  Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best, fill yourself with only the finest.  Pay attention, come close now, listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.  I’m making a lasting covenant commitment with you, the same that I made with David: sure, solid, enduring love.  I set him up as a witness to the nations, made him a prince and leader of the nations,  And now I’m doing it to you: You’ll summon nations you’ve never heard of, and nations who’ve never heard of you will come running to you because of me, your God, because The Holy of Israel has honored you.”  Seek God while he’s here to be found, pray to him while he’s close at hand. Let the wicked abandon their way of life and the evil their way of thinking.  Let them come back to God, who is merciful, come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.  “I don’t think the way you think.  The way you work isn’t the way I work.”  God’s Decree.

Each Sunday, I wonder who will join in worship.  There are many different reasons why people attend.  Some are very simple and others quite complex.  Some come out of obligation and others out of necessity, but all come because they were invited and felt welcomed.

​Our Scripture for today is a Scripture of Invitation -- All who are thirsty, come to the Water.  No money?  Come anyway.  Come buy and eat.  What a refreshing message!  Whoever we are we are welcomed by God.  No matter how much life has warn us down, zapped us of our energy, tapped us out financially and spiritually, God has a place for us at the table.  We will be fed, but we will not be fed the left-overs, but of the best of the best.  

This Scripture reminds us of who has a place at God's table.  Each one of us has a place and are part of God's plan.  Originally, Jesus Christ came for the Jews.  However, Christ also came to bring salvation to all of us.  That same covenant God made to David now extends to us.  We  have been invited and God seeks each one of us.  As a Father seeks after his children, God seeks after each one of us, seeking to bring us home.

​We are reminded here that being welcomed back into the arms of God is not merely for the faithful but for each on of us, for we all sin and fall short and yet God keeps welcoming us back home.  We are reminded that we worship a God who is merciful and forgives.  We are the ones that find it difficult to forgive.  Still, God keeps reaching out to us and reminding us that God thinks and works differently that we do.  Understanding that we are a people that strives to do right and yet falls short, God keeps reaching out to us, bringing us the gift of God's love.

God's love is a promised gift that cannot be manipulated.  It is offered freely and completely and all God asks is that we say yes.  Yes we seek for follow God's plan. Yes we seek to claim God's promises for our lives.  Yes we choose life with God forever.  May we have a heart that is willing to be open for relationship with God in love.  

Prayer:  Almighty and Merciful God, we are humbled that you seek to live and be in relationship with us.  Help us to choose You and to say yes to You our Loving God.  May all that we do in this world show your abiding love.  Amen.