Category: Lent

Read: Matthew 26:17-30

²⁶ Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” ²⁷ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, ²⁸ for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

I don’t like to admit it, but I’m a forgetful person. Angie calls me her “absent-minded professor”. For the record, it’s not one of my favorite nicknames. Even when I write things down or put reminders on my phone, I find unique ways of forgetting. Thankfully, I don’t think I have dementia – yet! It’s simply that I have a lot going on in my head – new ideas constantly bombarding me – that I sometimes can’t keep it all straight.

Jesus knew that all of us, to some extent, are forgetful. Maybe not like me, but we are. Can you think of an experience that you thought to yourself, “This is so amazing, I’ll never forget this;” and yet, today, you can’t bring it to mind (if you can’t think of one, that might just prove my point!). How often do we look at a picture of an experience from years ago and struggle to remember the circumstances or when we do, we wonder how we could ever forget!

Because we’re human. We get busy. We have new experiences. We go through joys and struggles. They keep coming, an endless stream of life.

In the Old Testament God gave the people of Israel an annual schedule. Set celebrations throughout the year to remind them of all the incredible ways he showed up and provided for them. Even so, they kept forgetting. They kept running after false gods.

We are like them. Prone to wander. Prone to forget. Prone to doubt and fear. It’s why Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, used two incredibly common symbols to remind his followers of the most incredible act of love ever.

Jesus took bread – the most simple and common part of a meal in that day; and wine the most common of drink. He didn’t ask us to remember his birthday. He didn’t ask us to remember one of his miracles. He didn’t ask us to remember one of his sermons. He asked us to remember his death.

“Take, eat; this is my body.”

And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

We are to remember a cross. We are to remember a death. We are to remember a Savior who loved us so much, he died a death he did not deserve. Beaten, mocked, flogged, spat upon; betrayed, denied. Jesus obeyed the will of the Father to the bitter end. He drank the cup of suffering – filled to the brim with my sin and yours – because of his love for the Father and for us.

Peter Marshall reminds us that:

Christ had begun His ministry by telling His apostles that the Son of Man must suffer many things. Must – there was no other way. It was for that purpose that He had come into the world. “For as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up…that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The First Easter (17-18)

Read the words of Jesus in John 14-16. See his calm confidence; his tender, loving words; his encouragement to them. He was not afraid to follow the Father’s will. He knew what lay before. He knew he would see them again. He knew the Father’s purpose.

The bread and cup remind us to look to fix our eyes on Jesus “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). They remind us that Jesus really lived. He really died. God really did, for our sake, make him who knew no sin to be sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The bread and the cup remind us that we are sinners; dead in our trespasses; enemies of God; deserving of wrath (see Ephesians 2). But God, who is rich in mercy, has made us alive. We are forgiven. We are set free. We are alive.

And we are called to die to ourselves. Jesus said in John 12:24, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” And in Matthew 16:24, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 

The bread and the cup remind us that we must share in Christ’s sufferings – not dying on a cross, but in order to experience new life and resurrection, we too must die. We must die to the old self; we must die to the flesh; we must deny ourselves; we must follow Christ.

Throughout Lent, we have practiced dying to self. We have practiced in small ways what it means to deny ourselves so that when the bigger deaths come – the bigger temptations and challenges – we will know how to let go of what is not needed and to obey our loving Father.

Remember. Remember what Christ has done on the cross. He died and by faith in him, we die too. Now we can join our voices with Paul’s in declaring, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

Take time to reflect:

Where do you need help in remembering the work of Christ in your life? What truths do you tend to forget? What untruths do you tend to believe?

Ask God to show you any areas where you need to die to yourself or your desires. What new thing does God want to do in you? Is there something that needs to be removed to make way for it?

If you’ve given up something during Lent, do you sense God teaching you obedience through the things you’ve “suffered”? What might that be? Where might he want to teach you more?

Take time to thank Jesus for suffering in our place. Thank him for the cross and for the bread and the cup that remind us of his incredible work of love. Ask him to help you remember.

Read:  Romans 5:6

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

At the right time–Timing is important for so many things.   I (John) know that my most productive time of day is first thing in the morning.  If I am preparing a sermon (or writing a devotion!) I know that ideas will come to me most readily early in the day.  By noon, I am much less productive. 

If you are cooking a meal, it is important to cook the food the correct amount of time, or the result could range anywhere from undercooked to burnt.  Timing is essential for a comedian, so that they deliver the punch line of a joke at the right time for maximum effect.   Many books, seminars, and recordings have been designed to help us with our own time management. 

Years ago, Doris and I attended a workshop concerning choral music rehearsal technique.  An example that we focused on was one of Bach’s cantatas, entitled Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit (God’s time is the very best time).  Bach had it right—God’s timing is perfect–the very best.  And God’s timing is different than ours.  Psalm 90, a prayer of Moses, expresses his awe at God’s time:

For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. (Psalm 90:4)

Yesterday was Palm Sunday.  In morning worship, we read Matthew 21:1-11, about Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday, when people placed palm branches and cloaks along Jesus’ path, shouting “Hosanna,” (O save, in Hebrew).   It was a magnificent occasion.  And the timing was right.  In a human sense, the timing was right because it was Passover and Jerusalem was filled with thousands of visitors: Jesus would make his entry into the city, overturn the tables of the moneychangers, and confront the scribes and Pharisees at a time when His actions would attract maximum attention.  For Jesus, and for his Father in heaven, it was right because it was the time that God had established through all of eternity for Jesus to complete His mission here on earth.  Earlier in His earthly ministry, Jesus had told the disciples of His mission, although they did not understand his words until after the resurrection:

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. (Mark 8:31)

On Palm Sunday, Jesus knew that the time had arrived for Him to set in motion the events that would occur through the rest of the week, leading Him to the cross.  As our High Priest, and the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world through His death on the cross, Jesus was ready to bring God’s plan for our redemption to completion.  Through regular communication with His heavenly Father, through prayer, Jesus knew His will, His plan, and the right time to bring it to completion.

 As Christians, it is important for us to do things in God’s time.  This can sometimes be difficult. If there is some item that we want, don’t we tend to want it now.  On the other hand, if something needs to be done, I can also tend to procrastinate.  How do we know God’s will and timing for our lives?  Through the work of the Holy Spirit in each believer’s prayer life, Bible reading, and counsel from other Christians, we can know what our Father has for us to do, and how our own plans and timing fit with the God’s will for us.

Take time to reflect

During the days leading up to Easter, take time to reflect on our Lord Jesus Christ, His sacrifice and victory, and the perfect timing of the events that unfolded beginning that first Palm Sunday.

Can you think of a time when you wanted something, but the timing wasn’t right?  How did you deal with that situation?   

What resources are available to you to reveal God’s will, his plan, and His perfect timing in our lives?

When many of us are being ordered to be at home due to the pandemic, use the time wisely, and spend some time with our heavenly Father.  If you don’t know Him personally, now is the time to begin that life-saving relationship.

Read:  Psalm 46:10

Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

In recent years, God has given me (John) the opportunity for several hospital stays.  Most recently, in February, I became ill on a trip to Mexico, and Doris and I decided to cut our trip short and come home, so that I could get medical treatment in familiar surroundings.  Our flight was from Cancun, Mexico, to Dallas, and home to St. Louis.  On the flight to Dallas, one of the flight attendants became alarmed at my appearance, and the flight was diverted to Houston.   Doris and I spent five days in Texas, as I was treated for a kidney infection, and for atrial fibrillation, at a Houston hospital. 

Although this was an unanticipated stop, and not a part of our plans, God took care of me.  Doris was with me, staying in a hotel near the hospital, caring for me.  In God’s providence, our son-in-law Scott was in Dallas on a business trip, and he came to Houston and remained with us the entire time.  The medical personnel at the hospital correctly identified my problems and gave me the antibiotics and other medications needed to recover sufficiently to come home after five days.  Pastor Rick was waiting for us at the airport and brought us home to St. Charles.  We had the prayers of many people lifting us up throughout my hospitalization.   Although I would have preferred an uneventful vacation in Mexico, my illness provided many opportunities for me to be still and to see God at work, protecting me and caring for me.

Today, the world is confronted with the Covid-19 pandemic, the resultant financial meltdown, and the disruption of the social order.  Unlike some other recent crises, there is upheaval in our daily lives as we are ordered to maintain “social distancing” by remaining at least six feet away from those with whom we interact.   Public church services are canceled and online worship is our means of connecting.   Dining at restaurants has been halted by government order, and we are urged to have our groceries delivered to us, rather than going to the grocery.   We are being forced to “be still,” by government order!

As we spend time confined to our homes, other than for necessary trips to the grocery, the doctor, and the gas station, it is comforting to remember the words of Jesus found in Matthew 6:31-34.

 31“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’  32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.   34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.  Our government leaders and the medical establishment are taking needed steps to try to lessen the severity and shorten the length of the crisis.  However, true personal peace during the pandemic doesn’t come from human sources.    It comes from God our Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Take time to reflect:

How are you dealing with being still?   Although we are not able to meet together publicly, our brothers and sisters in Christ are still available to us by phone, text, and email. 

While being still, recognize the blessings that may be hidden in the present situation.   On a recent newscast there were stories about General Motors retooling to produce needed ventilators for hospitals and Anheuser-Busch producing hand sanitizer as well as beer.  Or the young man who, with his mother, is helping at-risk people in his neighborhood by doing needed errands.  Or the two young cellists who moved their practice to the front porch so that a shut-in neighbor could enjoy the performance from her adjoining front porch. 

Are there ways that you could assist someone in need? 

If you are in need, know that you can call upon your pastors at Salem, as well as your other Christian brothers and sisters for help.

During this challenging time, remember these words of Jesus:  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)

Read Psalm 32:8

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

Early in my personal walk with Christ, I (John) participated in a Bible memory program, and Psalm 32:8 was the first verse that I memorized.  It has always been comforting to me, and, like all Scripture, as Paul wrote to Timothy, it has proven to be profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16) God has been faithful to instruct me and to show me the path that He wants me to follow. I have not always accepted God’s guidance and I have sometimes strayed from His way.   Without exception, it was a mistake to wander off the path that God had for me.  Fortunately, as we learn from 1 John 9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  However, even though I know that I am forgiven for the errors I have made when I stray from God’s path, there have been consequences for my life.

Twice, during the 1990’s, I hiked for a couple of days on the Appalachian Trail, in North Carolina.  The Trail stretches 2200 miles from Georgia to Maine.  Over its entire length, it is marked by white rectangles, or blazes.  These 2 inch by 6 inch vertical rectangles are painted in white on trees, rocks, and sign posts.   Although maps and a compass are also essential for hikers, if you follow the blazes, you know that you are following the trail.   

How can Christians be sure that we are on the right path or trail?  How do we gain access to God’s instruction, teaching, and counsel, and stay on the path?  One way is to study your Bible.  Psalm 119:105 tells us, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

A second way is to pray consistently. James 1:5 tells us, If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.  Remember God’s promise that He will counsel us with his eye upon us. 

A third way to be sure that you are on the right path is to seek guidance from other believers.  Proverbs 19:20 reminds us to listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.  Proverbs 24:6 says, For by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.

These are not new ideas for those of us who are veteran attenders of church and who have heard hundreds or even thousands of sermons.  So if we know these ideas, what prevents us, as Christians, from following the path to eternal life?   The path is marked for us so that we don’t stumble or become lost if we heed God’s instruction and counsel.    

There are lots of jokes related to the fact that men hate to ask for directions.  Even though God’s counsel and teaching are available 24-7, our natural tendency is to rely on our own knowledge and experience rather than seeking the guidance of our heavenly father.   Also, we can be distracted by various false idols.  It is very easy to fall into the trap of placing the idols of wealth, career, ambition, comfort, or any of the other shiny objects that distract us, ahead of God.  In this time of the Covid-19 virus, as we watch the news and deal with the most disruptive medical, financial, and social crisis since World War II, are we seeking the Lord’s counsel, and taking advantage of the comfort and assurance He offers?  There is no need for “social distancing” from the Holy Spirit.  God is in control. 

Take time to reflect

What are the obstacles in your life that prevent you from following God’s teaching and counsel?  What causes you to wander off the path that God has for you? 

Take some time to pray for our medical personnel, those who are providing essential services during this difficult period, and for everyone who is on the front line dealing with the current crisis.

Take some time today to read and reflect on your Bible.  During this challenging time, recall the words that God spoke through Isaiah to the people of Israel during their captivity in a strange land: 

Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)

Read: Psalm 130

¹Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! ² O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! ³ If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

⁴ But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; ⁶ my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

⁷ O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. ⁸ And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

For many of us, peace is one of those feelings that is often elusive. We live with stress; with discouragement; with unsettledness; with dissatisfaction; with discord. We have want to be at peace – to have a sense of hope and joy and well-being – but we feel like something’s missing; not quite right; just out of reach.

How can we have a heart at peace? How can we walk through our days and weeks with a joyful sense that everything will be ok – even when it doesn’t look that way? The biggest obstacle we face in our desire for that peaceful heart is our own sin. Sin deceives us. It lies to us. It subtly plays upon our weaknesses and our insecurities and leads us to do, say, or think things we don’t want.

Psalm 130 is “a song of ascents”. It was one of the fifteen psalms (Psalms 120-134) pilgrims would sin as they came into Jerusalem for one of the three festivals all Jews were required to attend. They are psalms of hope, joy and expectation. Psalm 130 gives us a pattern that can help us find that elusive peace we long for: repentance; forgiveness; waiting; and worship.

Repentance (Psalm 130:1-3): Scripture encourages us invite the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and show us where we are out of step with God. Where have we disobeyed? Where is there sin?

When we come under the conviction of sin, often there is a heavy weight of guilt that leads us to cry out to God. David begins this psalm by crying out to God from the depths of his heart. He longs for God to hear his confession; to hear his plea for mercy; to not hold his sin against him. If God were to “mark iniquities,” who could survive?

Forgiveness (130:4): But God does forgive. When we confess our sin to him, he is faithful and just to “cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Jesus paid our debt in total at the cross. His blood washes us clean. The holy, perfect, almighty God is to be feared – respected; awed; overwhelmed – and he loves us so much, he doesn’t hold our sin against us. He made a way for us to be forgiven.

Waiting (130:5-6): God’s timing is perfect. When we seek him with confession and receive his forgiveness, we also wait. We come to his word with hopeful expectation he will speak. We pray and speak to him with a heart tuned to listen as well. We wait for a nudge of his Spirit; we pause at a word or phrase that catches our attention; we sit in his presence and wait.

Waiting here is not simply sitting in his presence as we study his Word. Nor is it not stepping out to serve or to trust him until he moves in an incredibly obvious fashion. It is a companionable walking with him; a seeking to keep in step with him. It is a relationship that does not run ahead and seeks never to lag behind.

We wait for wisdom or guidance. We wait for answers to our prayers. We wait for him to make us whole and holy. We wait for him to come again and make all things new. We wait for him to take us home and to hear him say, “Well done!” Until Jesus returns, we wait.

Worship (130:7-8): We do not wait because God is too busy or because he is on a break. God is always moving. He is always at work. He is constantly doing all that is needed for us to grow closer to him. He is constantly moving in and around us to draw us closer.

All God does is worthy of our praise and adoration. Everything he does is good. Each and every character trait of our God is awe-inspiring and far more than we can imagine. He is infinitely good and infinitely worthy of our worship.

He is the God of hope. He is the God of steadfast love. He is the God of plentiful redemption. He is the God who saves. Worship is the appropriate response of hearts that are forgiven. Worship is the appropriate response of lives that have been and are being transformed. Worship is the only appropriate response to the God of the universe because of who he is and all he has done.

These four things – repentance, forgiveness, waiting, and worship – anchor us in a rhythm of grace. They help us to continue to seek God and to experience his deep love for us. They keep our eyes focused on the God of our circumstances rather than on the circumstances themselves.

Take time to reflect:

As you reflect on the psalm and on this pattern, where do you sense an invitation? What is stirred in your heart? Hope? Discouragement? Why do you think?

Take time to pause and ask God to reveal to you any sin you need to confess and repent.

Thank God for his promise to forgive your sin.

Take time to pray and ask God for whatever is on your heart. Ask too for the grace to wait on him for all you need. Ask for eyes to recognize how he answers.

Before you move on, take a few moments to silently wait in his presence. Rest and enjoy the presence of a Father who loves you beyond anything you can imagine.

Finish your time with worship. It could be a prayer of praise for who God is and what he does. It could be a praise song or hymn you sing or listen to. However you wish, give glory to the God who saves, redeems, and forgives.

Read: Ezekiel 37:1-14

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. ² And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. ³ And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”

¹¹ Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ ¹² Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. ¹³ And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. ¹⁴ And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

As a sophomore in high school, our youth pastor shared a message about abiding in Christ. He said if we are not in God’s word, we are walking dead people – alive on the outside, but dead on the inside. The Holy Spirit shook me up with this imagery. I went home that night and all I could see in my mind’s eye was me walking down the hallowed halls of Auburn High School and all my friends turning from their lockers because my bones were rattling so loudly within me. I was alive on the outside, but dead on the inside.

Imagine you are on a hike and as you come around a bend you find a valley stretched out before you. Instead of seeing vegetation and a stream, or crops and openness, you see something like the elephant graveyard in Disney’s The Lion King. You see bones. Dry bones. Disconnected bones. Bones that were under God’s curse because they had never been buried (Jeremiah 34:17-20).

The Lord took Ezekiel to such a place. Stretched before the prophet, in the middle of the valley, were many, many dry bones. Then the Lord said to Ezekiel, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’”

These dead, dry bones were the nation of Israel. Though God had done so much for them, they had abandoned his Word. They did not listen to the prophets. They did not obey the Law. They ran after false gods. They were no different than the nations around them.

Because of their rebellion, their idolatry, and their refusal to listen to God’s call to repent and return to him, God sent them into exile. Their bones were dried up. Their hope was gone. They were cut off.

God asked Ezekiel, “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel tells God, “O Lord God, you know.”

In the vision, Ezekiel obeys God and prophesies to the bones. First there is a rattling and the bones come together. Then there are sinews that connect the bones. Then flesh and skin cover the bones. And yet, there was no life. There was no breath in them.

God told Ezekiel to prophesy again. And he does. And now, breath entered these bones and they lived. They stood on their feet. They were a great army. God promises the people of Israel that they can live again. He will fill them with life again and bring them back to their land. They will know that he is their God when he raises them to life again. He says, ^“And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”

God’s Spirit is the key in this vision. Without it, we are just walking sacks of bones. We are dead. But when God’s Spirit breathes life into us, they anything is possible.

That night some thirty-five plus years ago, I asked Jesus to take control of my life. His Spirit came into me and made me alive. Slowly but surely, as I walk with him, he is rooting out what is dead in me and making me more and more like Christ.

Take time to reflect:

Where are you today? With all the uncertainty in the world today, do you feel cut off? Do you feel dry and distant from God? Do you wonder, “Can my bones live again?”

In Ezekiel’s vision, it is God’s prophetic Word through the prophet and the breathing of God’s Spirit that bring life. How is your time in God’s Word these days? Are you delighting in God’s Word as a message for you? Or is God’s Word something distant that you haven’t spent time in for a while and when you do, it seems like words on a page?

How are you doing at putting into practice what you sense God saying to you? Are there areas in your life where you are in “rebellion” – doing your own thing, not Gods? Take time to ask God to show you any attitudes or actions that show a lack of faith.

If you feel dry and distant, ask God if your bones can come to life again. Invite him to breathe on you afresh and fill you with his Spirit. Confess any sin and ask him for the strength to walk in faith and obedience.

Read: Isaiah 55:1-6

“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. ² Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. ³ Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.

⁶ “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.

During Lent, Isaiah 53 is a passage we often focus on. In it Isaiah speaks the word of the Lord looking forward to the Messiah coming and dying for the iniquities and transgressions of his people. Here in Isaiah 55, he invites us to share in the blessings of the Messiah’s work.

God’s invitation is given to two groups of people. In verse 1, he invites “everyone who thirsts…who has no money.” God invites the thirsty and the poor to come to him. They represent people who have thirst in their souls. They feel dry. Dead. Empty. Dissatisfied. They know there is more to life and they can’t get to it.

God invites the thirsty; the ones who have no money; no strength; only a longing for something more. Come. Come in your poverty and your longing and find in me what your soul desires.

The second group is also thirsty, but they have resources. In verse 2, they spend their money, their energy, their time seeking something, but it never satisfies. They buy bread, that isn’t bread. They work and it’s never enough. These are people who keep striving for meaning; for purpose; for something elusive and at the end, their hearts are still empty; their souls are still dry. They may have all the bells and whistles; all the things the world says makes them something; and yet there is a chasm of longing still in their souls.

Two kinds of people – the thirsty who have and the thirsty who don’t. One thinks they are self-sufficient; the other knows they are spiritually bankrupt. Where do you see yourself? We all fit in one or the other group.

God invites us to come to the waters. He says, “Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” Water, wine, and milk. Three beverages. One refreshes. One invigorates. One nourishes. Water restores our souls (as we saw in Psalm 23). Wine revives us and gives us energy. Milk gives us nutrients which strengthen.

One pastor writes, “Verse 1 says is that God is willing to revive us from the heat of Death Valley with the miracle of his water; and make us strong and healthy and stable with the miracle of his milk; and then give us endless and ever-fresh exhilaration with the miracle of his wine.”

God calls to us. He says, “Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” God offers to us food that will satisfy our deepest hunger; drink that will satisfy our most extreme thirst. It is good; it is rich. It satisfies and there is an abundance of it!

Then in verse 3 God says, “Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live.” God is the only one who can satisfy our soul; our heart’s deepest desires. He is the only one who can sustain us. David wrote, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26). God is the one who supplies all our needs from his riches (Philippians 4:19). God is the one who strengthens us with power to endure with joy (Colossians 1:11).

How do we experience this blessing? John Piper points out that there are twelve commands in these three verses. Three times we are called to listen carefully. Then, we are told to 1) Come; 2) Buy; 3) Eat; and 4) Enjoy.
Take time to reflect:

1) Come. Do you feel distant from God? Do you long for more than what you’re experiencing with him? Draw near. Consider the pattern of your relationship with him and press in for more. What’s one thing this week you could do to draw nearer to God?

2) Buy. Have you drawn near but are holding back? You are still considering what to do. There is no charge. The price is free. But you must receive the water, the wine, and the milk by faith. Jesus paid the price at the cross, and now we can take and drink freely from the blessings God offers. Are you all in for Jesus? Where can you find more of him in your day?

3) Eat. Have you said yes to Jesus? Have you trusted in him and “bought” the water, wine and milk? You need to eat/drink. You need to consume it; to experience him. It isn’t enough to “know” about him. How are you pursuing Jesus? Is he inviting you to something more?  

4) Enjoy. If you have “eaten”, you’ve pressed in for more and more of Jesus; now you can rest. Enjoy. Delight yourself in your Lord. Join the psalmist in saying, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

Read: Psalm 23

¹ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. ² He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. ³ He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousnessfor his name’s sake. ⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. ⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ⁶ Surelygoodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

There are experiences in life that turn us upside down. Events that are thrust upon us that shake us to the core. Even things we plan for can surprise us in how they hit us in unexpected ways and places.

These experiences can be incredibly disorienting. Losing a spouse, a parent, or a best friend and suddenly having a huge hole in our hearts. Getting laid off, fired, retiring, or quitting and instantly losing a title or role that we’d worn as a badge with pride. Watching a child leave for college (or kindergarten!); walk away from the Lord and us; or slipping away through an illness or accident and leaving a chasm where our parenting used to be.

Losses of these kinds stir up all sorts of questions, but perhaps the most disorienting of all is, “Who am I?” I thought I was a spouse, parent, child, pastor, engineer, coach…fill-in-the-blank. What am I? Who am I? Where do I go and what do I do to find out?

I wonder what life experiences led David to write the twenty-third psalm. Certainly, he had served as a shepherd and was very familiar with such a lifestyle. But what had happened that caused him to view himself as a sheep in need of someone to lead him. He was a king! He was a mighty soldier! He was a great leader! He was even called “a man after God’s heart.”

But David also knew hardship. He was chased and hunted by King Saul who wanted to kill him. He had children who were messed up and made horrible choices – including trying to overthrow his reign. And he committed horrible sin by committing adultery, trying to cover it up, and then having a man killed.

Through all of this, David rooted his identity in his relationship to God. He wrote seventy-three psalms – nearly half of them – pouring out his heart to God. He knew that the Lord was his strength; his rock; his deliverer. He knew that any blessing he had come from God.

“The Lord is my shepherd” – A sheep is bought at a price or bred and raised from a small lamb. David doesn’t say the Lord will be his shepherd if he does certain things; he doesn’t say the Lord is his shepherd except in certain conditions. There is a quiet confidence. He is a shepherd.

And he is my shepherd. He is not some nebulous shepherd to the masses (well he is, but that’s not how David knew him). He is a shepherd who cares for me. He watches over me. He preserves me. The personal care and concern. The beauty of this deep love. David found comfort and security in the thought that God cares for him like a shepherd cares for his sheep.

Like David, we need to find our identity not in the roles that can be lost or shaken or changed – parent, child, success, employee, owner, husband, wife, friend. We need a shepherd. All we have, ultimately, comes from our shepherd. He is the one who cares for us. He is the one who takes us to the green pastures and the still waters. He restores our souls.

When all around us is chaos and upside down, he is the one who is the same always. He is the one who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death. He is the one who supplies all our needs that we might not want. He is our shepherd.

We need not fear death; we need not fear evil. Our shepherd is with us. His presence – the One who is Lord of all and who loves me and who does not abandon me – is constant. Even when the Lord, my shepherd, disciplines me; when he pokes and prods with his rod and staff; I know it is for my own good. His discipline, his redirection, his correction is a comfort to me.

There is an invitation in this psalm. We are invited to know God as our shepherd; to experience the intimacy, love, care, guidance, discipline and reward of the one who is Lord and shepherd. He promises blessing – a table set for us; a place to dwell; goodness and mercy to follow wherever we go. We may not understand who we are or where we fit from outside factors, but we can know with certainty that we are His. His child; his treasure; his sheep.

When our life is turned upside down; when we experience loss or simply find ourself disoriented and feeling lost, let us look to our shepherd. Let us look to the Lord who is always at our side. We shall not want. We will find rest and restoration for our soul.

Take time to reflect:

When have you felt disoriented or turned upside down? What did you do? What brought you comfort?

When you think of God as your shepherd, what is stirred in your soul? If a sheep could speak to its shepherd, what would it say or ask? What would you like to say or ask your shepherd? Take time to pour out your thoughts and questions to him!

Read Psalm 23 again. What comfort do you find in these verses? What encouragement? Do you sense God drawing your attention to a particular phrase or thought? Take time to ponder that. What is your shepherd saying to you today?

Read: 1 Samuel 16:1-13

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Years ago, the team leader of our church planting team in Jordan received a call from a satellite television ministry asking if we would follow up on a person who had asked for more information about Jesus. There was a young twenty-something man and an older sixty-something man who had each asked for a Bible and a visit to discuss Jesus.

Conventional wisdom would say he should choose the younger man for the visit. A young man was more likely to be open to new ideas and perhaps more willing to change his beliefs. But as our team leader prayed, he sensed God nudging him to follow up with the older man.

He went to visit this man in his home in a conservative part of the city. He expected it would be a Nicodemus-like visit (one-to-one and secretive). When he walked in there were thirteen people in the room. Being a conservative area, it was customary that Muslim women would be in separate rooms from the men. But there were both men and women there.

The man began his story. He had put his faith in Jesus after watching different Christian programs on satellite TV. He’d gotten ahold of a Bible and had been reading it. Everything he read, shared with his family. The people gathered with him were his wife and children and their spouses. All of them had believed in Jesus too!

Before our friend could ask any questions the man went on to explain that everything he taught his family, they shared with others. They had seen another thirty-five people choose to follow Jesus from their witness and study! And that wasn’t all! Those thirty-five had been sharing what they learned with others and were meeting with twenty-five more who had believed and were following Jesus.

Our friend was stunned. He had gone to this meeting expecting to meet a man who was curious about Jesus. Instead he found that God had already begun a movement of the Holy Spirit! Over the next many months, God would add exponentially to the number of people following Christ as a result of this family’s witnessing.

What would have happened if our team leader had followed conventional wisdom? I imagine someone else would have eventually found this man and visited him, but we would have missed out on being a part of what God wanted to do. We would have missed out on an outpouring of the Holy Spirit unlike anything we had seen before. It was something we had prayed for many times, and we were blessed to be witnesses to God’s answer!

Samuel was sent to find a new king since God had rejected Saul after his disobedience. As Jesse’s sons were paraded before him, Eliab, Abinadab, Shammah and four others pass before him. Each one looked like a leader. Each one appeared to be the one. But the Lord rejected each of them.

More important than appearance, God looks at the heart. He looks for a person who is available and teachable. He looks for a person who is humble and trusting.

Take time to reflect:

When you are faced with a decision, what do you consider? How open are you to God steering you away from conventional wisdom?

Why does God look at the heart? What can we look at that would help us see the heart and not just appearance?

Do you focus more on your own outward appearance more than your inner life? David was called “a man after God’s own heart.” How do you cultivate a heart like that?

This week pause for a few minutes in a quiet place. Take three deep breaths. Ask God to take a good look at you. Ask him what does he see? Wait a few minutes in a posture of quiet listening. What do you sense him saying? Where do you sense an invitation from him? How will you respond?

Finish by thanking God for the work of His Holy Spirit in your life and the promise that he will bring it to completion in the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6)!

Read: Jeremiah 2:4-13

¹² Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord, ¹³ for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

In Old Testament Israel, water was an incredibly valuable resource. A cistern was an artificial reservoir which was dug in the earth or carved into the rock to collect and store water. Cisterns were very important in the land of Israel because of the long dry season and the relatively few natural springs.

Imagine going to your cistern and discovering that it was cracked! A broken cistern was practically worthless. Cracked rock or crumbling masonry could hold only a small quantity of water and what it held was usually dirty. Collecting and storing water in a broken cistern was futile. It amounted to little and what little there was tasted terrible.

Ideally, you would live near a spring, but that was rare. A spring was far better than a cistern. It’s fresh, running water was plentiful and tasted much more refreshing. If you had a choice between the spring or the cistern, you’d always choose the spring.

In Jeremiah 2, God says the people of Israel have done the spiritual equivalent of choosing a cistern over a fresh spring. They had turned away from the living God and were doing their own thing. They were no longer putting God first, but seeking after their own interests.

God offered them the spiritual equivalent of a fresh spring. He offered a fountain of living waters which would satisfy their souls and provide their deepest needs. And they knew it! They had been taught that what God offered was life giving and would satisfy their souls.

Yet they still chose to make their own way. They chose to make their own cisterns. Not only was the water bad, but they were broken cisterns. They had foolishly run turned away from their God and followed the false gods of the nations around them.

Take time to reflect:

Do you think people today are guilty of the same mistake? Have you wandered from the Living Water after another source, hoping it can satisfy? Have you built your own cistern?

There are all sorts of things we might try to build into our own cistern. We might try building a career and success as our cistern. We might use recreation and entertainment to fill that space. We might spend time seeking information through the Internet or newspapers and magazines. We might seek to build our cistern out of our family or friends or marriage.

Any cistern we might build is broken. Complete fulfillment and satisfaction can only be found in the fountain of Living Water. It can only be found in our God.

Where are you seeking to satisfy your spiritual thirst? If it’s in anything other than a relationship with God through Jesus, it’s a broken cistern. Repent and ask God to help you drink deeply from his spring of living water!