Invitation to Contentment

Invitation to Contentment

Isaiah 55:1–3

There’s a story of a successful businessman who was bothered to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat.

“Why aren’t you out there fishing?” he asked.

“Because I’ve caught enough fish for today,” said the fisherman.

“Why don’t you catch more fish than you need?” the rich man asked.

“What would I do with them?”

“You could earn more money,” came the impatient reply, “and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could buy better nets, catch more fish, and make more money. Soon you’d have a fleet of boats and be rich like me.”

The fisherman asked, “Then what would I do?”

“You could sit down and enjoy life,” said the businessman.

“What do you think I’m doing now?” the fisherman replied as he looked peacefully out to sea.

Few people ever reach that level of contentment. In fact, one poet put it this way:

As a rule, man’s a fool

When it’s hot, he wants it cool.

And when it’s cool, he wants it hot,

Always wanting what is not.

Isn’t that the truth?

We live in a world filled with discontented people. People are never happy with what they have. They always want more. Everywhere you look, people are striving to get more stuff. They are always after having more things. Not many people in this world seem to be completely content and satisfied with their place in life. Enough is never enough.

Why is that?

I think the answer lies in the fact that people are looking for true contentment in places, people and things that can never actually provide contentment to them.

As we finish this year, my hope this morning is that we can learn to be content and move into a new year, not looking for more for us, but instead seeking to be faithful to Him so that His Kingdom can grow.

Let’s pray and we’ll read our text.

Pray!

Isaiah 55:1–3 ESV

“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. 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. 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.

If we look at verse two of our text, it clearly shows us where people try to find contentment. First:

People Seek Satisfaction in Their Possessions

They think that their things will give them contentment. They spend their time making money so they can spend the money they make accumulating more things. People are looking for contentment in the things they possess.

What people fail to realize is that possessions are temporary at best. They wear out and must be replaced, what we have might be here today and gone tomorrow. All those things that we hold in so high a regard, they’re going to be left behind one of these days. You won’t take a house, a car, a gun, a bass boat, or whatever your thing is, into eternity with you.

Every single thing you and I possess will be left behind one day, even those things you value more than anything! And, if someone acquires too many possessions, they may find that the things they think they own will end up owning them!

As someone once said, “If your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall.” Possessions can never satisfy the deepest needs of the soul!

People seek satisfaction in their possessions and:

People Seek Satisfaction in Their Pursuits

According to this verse, they “labor for that which does not satisfy.”

They spend all their time and energy pursuing things that can never give them satisfaction of soul. Work, hobbies, sports, and the pleasures of life will never satisfy the deepest needs of the soul. The more you invest your time and effort in these things, the more they’ll require from you.

No matter what you pursue in life, you’ll find, in the end, that your pursuits will pursue you.

Whether it’s work or pleasure, it will consume your life if you let it. If you seek satisfaction in these things, you’ll discover that it will take more and more of these things to bring contentment into your life. And, just like possessions, the pursuits of life will end when this earthly life ends.

In these verses God reveals the true source of permanent satisfaction.

He gives us a guarantee of perfect, eternal contentment to all who will hear His voice and respond to His invitation. He gives us an invitation to contentment and tells us where true contentment can be found.

Let’s look at some of the areas of God’s invitation to contentment. First, we see the:

Offers of this invitation

When God issues His invitation in these verses, He makes a couple of wonderful offers that are far too good to pass up. First, He offers the:

Right Provisions

There are three basic substances that God offers in this verse. He offers these to all who will come to Him. Let’s look at these in a little detail.

He offers water

Water is one of the most important substances for humans. Our bodies are made up of about 60% water and it takes a lot to keep us alive. You can survive three weeks without food and three minutes without air but only three days without water. We need water to live.

Water in the Bible is often a picture of the new birth. When Jesus talked with Nicodemus:

John 3:5 ESV

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

It is a picture of the Gospel message; the very message that must be received by faith in order for a person to be saved.

When Jesus spoke to the woman at the well:

John 4:13–14 ESV

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The word “drinks” in verse 13 is in the present tense and refers to continual action. In other words, “Even if you drink continually from Jacob’s well, you’ll just get thirsty again.” The word “drinks” in verse 14 is in a different tense and refers to a one time for all time action. Basically, “If you take just one drink of the water I offer, you’ll never be thirsty again!”

Jesus promises complete contentment to everyone who will drink of the water that He offers.

Unlike physical water, which we drink again and again, the spiritual water that Jesus offers will forever satisfy those who will take just one drink of it.

His offer still stands today.

He offers water and:

He offers wine

In biblical times, wine was just as important as water. It was used at times of feasting and happy celebrations.

In Jesus’s first recorded miracle in John chapter two, He attended a wedding. The miracle wasn’t attending though. They ran out of wine and his mom tells Him He needs to do something about.

So, He tells them to take six empty stone water jars and to fill them with water, they’re water jars. But He changes that water into wine.

And in a way, that’s what He does with us. He takes our old stony hearts, fills it saving power of the gospel and transforms us by His power.

He offers water, wine and:

He offers milk

Milk is essential for healthy growth. It does the body good, doesn’t it?

Milk is the first substance newborn babies receive for their nourishment. Milk contains all the essential nutrients needed to transform a baby into a healthy child.

1 Peter 2:2–3 ESV

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

There are many people in the family of God who have not had the benefit of a formal education. Some didn’t learn to read or write very well. The world looks at them as ignorant and uneducated people.

In truth, they are far wiser in the things of God than this world will ever be. They know the way of salvation, righteousness and faith. They know this because they have been drinking deeply of the good milk of the Word of God.

He offers the right provisions and the:

Right Price

The world makes you pay for everything your get. If you don’t believe me, try walking out of a store without paying for something.

Religion will make you work for every blessing you think you’ll receive. Sin, the flesh and the world all make you pay dearly for any promise of contentment they offer you.

On the other hand, God places every offer He has as a free gift. He offers salvation and contentment to all who will come to Him free of any charge.

Since God’s gifts are free, anyone can receive them. God doesn’t require money, righteousness, good works or any other form of payment. He wouldn’t even accept those things if they were offered.

The only currency God requires is the currency of faith! That’s an offer anyone can afford!

How can God make such a free offer to people like us? He can do that because His Son, Jesus Christ, went to Calvary, died on the cross and paid the whole price of redemption.

As the hymn says, “Jesus paid it all; All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow.”

There are the offers of this invitation and:

Opportunities of this invitation

What does the person who accepts this free offer receive? There are at least three opportunities for those who accept His free offer. First, there is the opportunity for:

Salvation

God promises those who come to Him that their “soul may live.” This is a picture of salvation! The soul in its natural state is separated from God and in terrible danger.

Every soul born into this world is born with a sin-stained soul and headed to a place called hell.

When someone receives God’s free offer and drinks the “water of life:” when that person believes the Gospel of grace, that person is saved.

We throw the word “saved” around a lot in church and it is a special word to every redeemed child of God. The word “saved” means “to rescue from all harm and danger.”

When God makes His offer to a lost soul and that person accepts Jesus as their Savior, they enter into a salvation relationship with God. At that moment, they are delivered from the condemnation of sin.

They have been delivered from the wrath of God. They pass from death into life.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

They are set free and they receive salvation.

There is an opportunity for salvation and

Satisfaction

We’re told that those who receive God’s offer can “delight yourselves in rich food.”

When God saves someone, He gives them a new life that is far better. It allows us to rest and be content with what we have in Jesus.

It means we aren’t seeking satisfaction in the world any longer. It means we aren’t looking for happiness, peace and pleasure in worldly things any longer. When we know Jesus as our Savior, we find everything we need in Him.

We find peace, joy, rest, acceptance, blessing, love, and salvation. We find every need satisfied.

There is an opportunity for salvation, satisfaction and

Security

God’s promise is that He will “make with you an everlasting covenant.”

A covenant is an agreement God makes with His people. Some covenants are conditional.

2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV

if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

This covenant only has one requirement. When a person accepts God’s free offer and they drink the “water of life,” God makes an unconditional, everlasting covenant with them.

Call it what you want, “eternal security,” “once saved always saved” or “eternal life.”

It all means the same thing. Those who come to God and accept His offer experience salvation and are promised that their salvation will last for all eternity! This is the great promise of the New Testament! Those who receive Jesus as their Savior need never fear that He will take their salvation away from them.

John 10:28 ESV

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

There are the offers of this invitation, the opportunities and:

Obligations of this invitation

This is an incredible offer! Everything we need for eternal salvation is offered to us at the right price. So, what’s required to accept this offer? There are two requirements mentioned in these verses. But, don’t worry; God’s requirements aren’t hard to meet.

First, there is something you must:

have

We’re told who this offer is for. It is for “everyone who thirsts.”

Thirst is a common need. Every person on the planet experiences the desire to quench their physical thirst. But the thirst we’re talking about here is spiritual. While everyone experiences physical thirst, not everyone experiences the same level of spiritual thirst.

Some people have their thirst satisfied by the sins of the flesh and the world. That kind of person doesn’t see their need. They have no desire for a new life and have no reason to come to God.

But, every now and then a person will develop a spiritual thirst. They’ll look at the life they’re living and become unsatisfied. They’ll want more than they have. They’ll realize that something is missing. Those are the people who become open for God’s offer of salvation.

You see, God’s offer is only for sinners.

He didn’t come to this world to save people who think they’re righteous. God can’t and won’t save a person who doesn’t see their need. He will though, save all of those who see their need and come to Him.

But understand that this thirst for God is not a natural experience. It’s the result of the work of the Holy Spirit in someone’s life. When the Spirit begins dealing with a human heart, He convicts them of their sin and of their need.

John 16:7–8 ESV

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:

He creates a thirst for more and desire to come to God.

There is something you must have and there is something you must:

hear

In our passage, the people are repeatedly told that they need to hear His message:

· Listen

· Incline your ear

· Hear

If they’ll listen, if they’ll hear Him calling, they can come to Him and get what they really need. He says “come” to me and you’ll be satisfied.

If there is a thirst in you for a different life; if you’re dissatisfied with the way you’re living and with your prospects for eternity, it’s the Lord speaking to you. If you’ll hear His voice, and come to Him, He’ll save you and give you eternal life.

All it takes is to respond to His call and salvation becomes a reality. Is He calling you?

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food.

The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime.

But, a few days later, he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. “I’ve been thinking,” he said. “I know how valuable this stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me this stone.”

That wise woman could let go of that precious stone because she knew true contentment in her heart. She didn’t need riches to give her joy. She had joy in her heart.

What about you? Do you have true contentment today? Have you heard God’s call to your heart to come to Him for salvation? Has He given you contentment in your soul? If He has, then you are truly blessed! You should thank Him and praise Him today!

If you’re not satisfied, if you’re not content, and you hear His voice speaking to you, you need to come to Him.

Is He calling? Do you need the contentment that He offers? Wouldn’t you like to be able to enjoy true satisfaction? You can, if you’ll come to Jesus today.