This week’s memory verse (Jan 20-Jan 26):
Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Isaiah 55:1 (ESV)
Where do you go for water when you’re most thirsty? Most of us head to our refrigerator or kitchen sink.
But what about when you thirst spiritually? Where do you go?
As you meditate on and memorize Isaiah 55:1 this week, ask yourself if you’ve been seeking the correct source to satisfy your thirst, and if you’ve been overworking to receive what’s meant to be free.
Suggestions to help you memorize:
- Recite the verse aloud several times, phrase by phrase.
- Reflect on the word come. What does it mean to you?
- Research the context of Isaiah 55, particularly verse 1. Look up cross-references.
- Ask yourself: Who is to come? Where are they to go? What are they to do there?
- Ask God how you can apply this verse to your life this week.
- Take these words with you on a card or your phone. Review them in spare moments.
- Type the verses on your laptop or phone app using Scripture Typer.
- Practice with the first letters of each word:
C, e w t, c t t w; a h w h n m, c, b a e! C, b w a m w m a w p.
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Please share what you’re learning in the comments and/or on our Facebook memory page.
Come to me in this verse is an open invitation….it is not time stamped because I can go over and over just like I do when I am physically thirsty. It includes all of us. But could it also me a command and not a suggestion? Because if we come than we will be satisfied. In the margin of my Bible I wrote this….”Only those who recognize they are spiritually bankrupt can find satisfaction in Jesus.” That came from a course I was taking in Youth With A Mission. I thank God he said to me….to all of us come.
Great comments, Donna. This is not time contingent nor discriminatory. It requires no payment of our own; just to come. The note you wrote yourself is good for all of us to hear.
Could it be a command? I just read similar thoughts here from John Piper (some excellent commentary on Isaiah 55:1-3).
http://www.desiringgod.org/sermons/the-great-invitation-come-drink-eat-live
“Come….” a hand waving me towards the One and Only Who can save me from myself, from sin. I need nothing yet I am welcome. There is no need for money and not even a price on it. This living water and bread is free for my coming. So inviting. So real. I am grateful that I took His gentle wave for me to come to Him and I went. Amen.
~ linda
P.S. This feels good to be memorizing this, Lisa. Thanks.
Your imagery of a “gentle wave” inviting me in is a very welcoming picture. Just “come” (4 times in this one verse alone!). I’m glad we get this verse at the top of the chapter.
It feels good to be memorizing to me, too, Linda. I’m glad we’re doing it together.
I had not read what John Piper had to say before…..interesting. I was thinking about this as we went to say goodbye to our son that is heading out to Basic training for the Army National Guard…..it was hard to think about that although he is 28 and knows that he knows he wants to do this even through he has a wife and new baby…..and I came home to the invitation…..Come and I felt such comfort and I am refreshed. I will think about this a lot this in the coming weeks….I have my mom who is 91 and dementia and now I will have our Granddaughter….lots of changes but I have the invitation to come…..
That’s a lot going on, Donna. In seasons of change like this, we’re often more aware of our thirst so I pray your time with the Lord in Isaiah 55 will be especially thirst-quenching as you “come” and care for many generations in your family. My mother had dementia (Alzheimer’s) and I know how difficult it is watching that, on many levels. My prayers are with you!
Just found this. So, glad it is here for me to use to help me reflect on Isaiah 55. I saw it as an open invitation to everyone, however it is written as a command with an understood ‘you’ at he beginning.
(You) Come, everyone who thirsts, (you) come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! (You) Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.vvv
How do we buy this water? Perhaps it implies giving of your time, to stop chasing the things of this world, and perhaps it is more of a living sacrifice. Wine implying life in Christ(?) and milk , perhaps, is the nourishmemt of the Word? It truly costs nothing in the sense of money; however it takes time and a bit of effort on my part. Several times a day I drink water; I must stop what I am doing to do replenish myself. I could grab soda, coffee, etc. but what I need is water. Our body is mostly made up of water. We need it to live.
Yes, I like to take it personally too, Val. I like your point that what our bodies need is water, even though we often give them anything but. May we not do likewise with Jesus, but instead drink Him in as often as we can!