Grace For The Journey

  Do you where the last invitation in the Bible is found?  It is found, as you might expect, in the last book in the Bible.  The Bible says in Revelation 22:16-17, “And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come.  Whoever desires, let him take of the water of life freely.”  This invitation is similar the invitation of God in Isaiah 55:1-3, “Ho! Everyoe who thrists, Come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat.  Yes come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend money for  what is not read. And your wages for what does not satisfy?  Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.  Incline your ear, and come to Me, hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you – the sure mercies of David.”

Oh, what comfort, hope, and fulfillment can be found in both of these invitations.  But the real focus of these two invitations is that God knows the vital importance of receiving this invitation that He issues it one last time in the last chapter of the last Book of the Bible.  His heart’s desire it that all of us . . .

“COME!”

Are you thirsty?

“COME,”

And

Quench your thirst with the water of life.

And notice the qualifications set forth for those who are to come: “… him who thirsts!” Here we find our Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, offering living water to replace . . .

• The bitter water of our broken lives.
• The bitter water of selfish ambition.
• The bitter water of self-righteousness.
• The bitter water of self-centeredness.
• The bitter water of sin and self-rule.

To be sure, this world offers water that spills out from broken cisterns, but it will never –never – deliver what it promises.  We are always left thirstier than when we started and totally unsatisfied.

We learn the hard way how life will turn out when we drink from any other well except Jesus.  Our Lord explained this in His conversation with the woman at the well in John 4:13-14, “Everyone who drinks [from this well] will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The God of love and life invites all who thirst to drink our fill from the Fount of every blessing.  Do you thirst . . .

• For truth? Come and discover it from the Scriptures – the Word of life!
• For peace? Come and receive it from the Prince of Peace!
• For forgiveness? Come and receive it from the Fount of Forgiveness!
• For unconditional love? Come and enjoy it from the Well of Limitless Love!

Only Jesus can quench your every thirst.

Remember, the Bible promises that those who “hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

One last thought: Do you recall the cost of all the bitter water you have sipped on over the years?  They were costly, right?  You paid in ruined relationships, regret and guilt from bad choices, a shipwrecked and shattered life, and separation from God.

Well, the Good News is . . .

This glorious invitation

To drink in the water of life

Comes without cost!

There is nothing you must do – nothing you can do – to “earn” the opportunity to drink from the living waters.  That cost was borne by Him who paid in full the staggering cost of sin for all those who acknowledge there sin, turn from that sin, and trust in His atoning work on their behalf on the cross and the empty tomb, and ask Him to forgive your sin and be your Savior and Lord.

The desire of God’s heart resounds in the last command of the Bible.

Come!  Come and drink!  Come and drink freely and fully!

Won’t you respond to God’s invitation?

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey …

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

 Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”