"come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. i will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to david." isaiah 55.1-3

i had a conversation with someone tonight who said (very loose paraphrase), "i've learned that power and faith really stem back to how much time we are spending in the word and in prayer. i know that the traditional church has harped on "having quiet time" for years, but it's true." and it is, i think. at least it is in my life. in these verses, God is offering us an incredible invitation - to LISTEN to him, the creator and God of the universe. he wants us to listen and come to him and hear him, so that we can have real LIFE in our very souls.
um, wow.
it's so easy to ignore disciplines of prayer and scripture. for those of us who have been burned out by some of the emptiness in the church, it's easy to lump it all together. but these disciplines give us life. life.

"for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the lord. as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what i desire and achieve the purpose for which i sent it." isaiah 55.9-11

i'm a thinker and a writer (and a talker). i love playing with words and exploring them and sharing them. the thing is, though, so many of my thoughts really just mean very little. my words might be interesting, but when it comes down to it, they are empty.
but i've never found God's words to be empty, when i really make an attempt to understand them. and here, he is making a promise that his word will NOT be empty - he sends out his word in us, and it becomes his work, returning fulfilled. i don't totally understand it. but we are sowing seed for God when we take his word into the world, and in the process, we get some pretty hearty bread for ourselves...we are vessels to carry that word. and sometimes we are the receivers to which it is sent. even when i can't see the work - just as i can't see seeds actually developing under the ground - it is still growing and transforming me into his image and purpose. it is transforming the world. why fill the spaces in the world with my own words and thoughts when there is a much bigger Word?

"you will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the filed will clap their hands. instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. this will be for the lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed." isaiah 55.12-13

this is not a futile, draining labor. this is a joy-giving, life-giving, creative birthing process...
- posted by amy @ 6:36 AM

 
this is my new, secret blog. it's dedicated to digging into scripture more deeply, to coming to the well to drink, arising and shining...
- posted by amy @ 8:54 AM