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This week is the third week of Lent and the readings turn to the matter of food and drink. In Isaiah 55:1-2 the Lord gives one of the sweetest invitations in the whole of scripture. He declares:

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 you will delight in the richest of fare.

“Listen, listen” he says. 

I love that. 

He knows we are distracted children; eyes diverted toward other pursuits. But when he says “Listen, Listen to me” it’s like he’s the Father who stoops low, gently alerting us that he has something better for us. You can almost hear him whistling, “Yoo hoo... I have something for you.”

A Word from Lewis

It reminds me of a famous quote of C.S. Lewis from Mere Christianity. Lewis writes:

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Yes. That’s what the Lord is getting at in Isaiah 55.  We’re like little children who’s desires are not too strong, but to weak. To easily satisfied, chasing after the little things... when all the while the LORD is saying: Listen. Listen to me. Come. There’s more. Desire more. 

A Word from the King

In Psalm 63, one of the other readings from this week, it says that David is in the desert. The literal Desert of Judah.  As we can imagine, he has food and water on his mind and in the place of thirst he writes:

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

So how will he satisfy this thirst?

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

“I will praise you” the king declares, and I will be “satisfied with the richest of foods.”

That’s it.  It's in praise and delight our souls find their food.

Let's Put It All Together

In this third week of Lent, the Lord offers to us another generous gift.  Last week it was shelter, this week it's food and drink - the richest of fare:

Listen. Listen. Lift your head from what distracts you. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Come to the, Lord. Delight in him.  There you will find the richest of fare.

Readings

This weeks readings are as follows: 

Isaiah 55:1-9

Psalm 63:1-8

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Luke 13:1-9