Repentant Sinners and God's Grace

Do you know where to turn?

When people have a need, they carefully consider that need in order to determine where to go to have that need met. Generally speaking, when our sewing machine needs repairs we do not take it to the same place we take our vehicle when it needs repairs. By the same token, folks seeking out investment advice likely won't turn to a medical professional for that counsel. Even in a school setting, the odds are very low that a student will pull out a grammar reference book when he needs the formula for circumference of a circle.

The first verse of today's lesson underscores the importance of knowing where to turn in our time of need: If you're thirsty, go where the drinking water is; if you have no money, go where the free stuff is. But this verse is more than a statement of such obvious facts; it is also an invitation! Listen: "Come ye to the waters... come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." What an offer!

So I ask you, do you turn to the right place in your time of need? Don't make the awful mistake of depending on the wrong helpers and solutions. When you're struggling -- with dejection and rejection, with inadequacy and failure, with bitterness and temper, with loneliness and temptation, or with whatever else -- don't try to wing it on your own and definitely don't listen to the direction of the evil one. To do so would be even more foolhardy than trying to treat appendicitis with a squirt of Chloraseptic in your nose or a frenzied call to Microsoft customer support. Be sure to turn to the right Source to have your needs met! Turn to God, His Word, and His people.

Choose what is good!

In the Scriptures, bread often symbolizes that which is essential to life. "Give us this day our daily bread" is not only a request for that simple food you might put in a toaster. It is an appeal for all that we need to survive another day. In the same way, Isaiah 55:2 doesn't imply we should spend our money on buns, bread sticks, rolls, and loaves of bread. Rather, this verse asks a very difficult question: Why blow your money and waste your life on that which is neither essential nor fulfilling?

I know, defining essential and fulfilling can be as frustrating and fruitless as tacking down a shadow or tracing around a water droplet. That is why we need to hearken diligently to Him. Only with His direction can we determine when something is essential...as well as when it ceases to be essential (that does happen, you know!). Only with His help can we find fulfillment without subjecting ourselves to all manner of experimentation as well as trial and error.

Determine to invest your life and your resources wisely. Commit yourself to choosing only the good. Then follow that determination and that commitment with the acknowledging of God in all your ways, allowing Him to direct your paths (Proverbs 3:6).

Treasure the Word!