Eat the good food

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.

Isaiah 55:2

My kids could eat all day long.  Let me rephrase that:  my kids could eat JUNK all day long.  They seem to be hungry all the time, yet when I offer them nutritious snacks like carrot sticks or fruit, they aren't hungry anymore. Instead, they hunger for chips, cookies or soda.  

You and I both know that they will get nothing but empty calories from junk food like that.  As parents, we know to offer good food to our children, food with vitamins that will help them grow.  We'd rather see them eat food that doesn't have empty calories, and will leave them wanting more.

In this passage, Isaiah was speaking of the same mistake.  People spend their money and their lives filling up with the wrong stuff.  They look for power in their jobs, they desire money for the latest and greatest possessions, just like my kids filling up on junk food.  But what happens when they actually get power, and actually earn money for all the things they want?  They want more.

God's word is the only thing we need.  By listening to His word, God is offering that nutritious food that we so desire.  That food--the Good News--declares to us that he has paid for our sins in Christ, and the assurance that he wants me to be his child.  He promises us that He will take us to live with Him in heaven.  As we read His word, God is at work, filling our soul with the nutritious food we need.  

We'll never be hungry again.

We pray:  Dear Heavenly Father, so often we desire the empty things in life.  As our children crave junk food, we desire things that will never matter to us.  Thank you for giving us Your Word, helping us be satisfied to the fullest and living forever with You.  In Your name we pray, Amen.