Friday 19th June - Thirsting to Give

DAILY BYTE

Are you thirsty?? If you’re not thirsty now, do you think you’ll be thirsty by the end of the day? We all get thirsty. The last time I checked, The Guinness Book of World Records said that the longest length of time a person has ever gone without water is eighteen days. Usually, people can only live about three days without water. Not very long! But, this is the way we are all built, as humans. We need water, and we all get thirsty!

The prophet Isaiah knew this, saying, “Ho, everyone who thirsts come to the waters….” And he connects this universal need for water with another universal need that we all seem to have… Since we’ve been discussing giving and money this week, you may be able to guess the need Isaiah is talking about, so let’s not beat around the bush.

Isaiah talks about money.

Does he say, however, “everyone who needs money, come and get it?” No - the Scriptures say, “and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!” You that have no money… It seems counterintuitive… If you have no money, how can you buy food?

Isaiah says, you people of God who have no money of your own, you are being offered something that’s free, something without a price. In other words, when it comes to the kingdom of God, if you have money, the money that you think is yours is not really your own. It does not belong to you. It has, however, been entrusted to you by a God who tells us all to “Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

God gives sustenance and life to us without a price. All that we have has been freely given. And now, we are entrusted to return to God the gifts and resources that were part of God’s kingdom in the first place.

The scripture challenges us to determine the amount of money we are called to contribute to the feast of God’s vision of uniting to share love, grace, and the sustenance of God with other members of the community. If you tithe, already contributing ten percent of your income to the church, it’s easy to slip into complacency, congratulating yourself in the fact that you’ve given all you’re “biblically” required to give. But, the Bible really leads us to another option – the hard task of continuing to envision this feast and reevaluate how much you are called to contribute, even if that means you are called to sacrifice more than ten percent of your income…

And, if you have not reached a point where you give ten percent of your income to ministry, pray heavily over the concept of the feast that we have envisioned this week, and consider what opportunity God is providing you to nourish others without fear that God will run out of water, wine, and milk for you. Even in a financial crisis, there is an abundance of resources in this world - resources that belong to God and that we all have the opportunity to share with one another. So, if you’re thirsty, come and share God’s waters.

FOCUS READING

Isaiah 55:1 (NASB)

Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Gracious God, we are thirsty for the quenching life you give. But we also recognize within ourselves a deep need to share the life you have offered us freely. Help us not to grasp greedily onto your abundance. Instead, encourage it to flow out of us lovingly and freely. So let it be.