Will You Answer His Call?

Isaiah 55 ESV

1 “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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. 5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. 6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. 12 “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Answering a call?

When I grew up in the '70s and '80s, communication was limited to letters, land line phone calls, faxes, and pagers. If you wanted to screen a call or avoid them, you had to use a friend to lie for you or use an answering machine. Sometimes we avoid a call because we know it is a person we wish to avoid, or it is someone trying to sell us something. Today we have many ways to avoid that issues of long ago. But what if you unknowingly screened a call from a loved one who has important news for you? Would you listen to the message? Would you call back? It sort of depends upon who called and what is the message.

In Isaiah 55, God gives all people a vital call that will determine if they have life in Him or not. This call is still available to us today. As we read this chapter, make sure to listen to this call from God and answer Him. God offers an everlasting promise of True Life through Jesus Christ. All who come to Him will receive it. Without Him, life is futile; therefore, we should come to seek Him right now, not later.

God’s call is connected to LIFE

Isaiah 55 comes after the great introduction of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53. After that in Isaiah 54, we read of God affirming his covenant promises to Israel. And chapter 55 points us to focus not just on Israel but the whole world. The call begins with an interesting word that is translated in English as “Come” or “Ho”. We hear this same word back in Isaiah 5:8 which is a term of lament as in a funeral. But here, it is used to call the people to attention to the listen to the following message. This message is a matter of urgency.

God calls anyone who recognizes that they are thirsty, hungry, and poor. This call is not just for physical food. It is a way to describe all the ways we are human, which includes spiritual, mental, relational, and physical. God knows our needs because He is the Creator. He offers not just a sample but a wealth of rich nutritious food. Do you recall the story of Jesus with the woman at the well in John 4:1-26? She initially misunderstood Jesus’ invitation to living water by thinking it was a physical source of water. Jesus invited her to receive life for which she truly longed. She was not satisfied in life, relationships, nor her understanding of God. Jesus offered her all these things because they are part of God’s offer to true life in Him.

Who in their right mind would refuse such an offer? Well, that is part of our human problem. We may often expect free to be the same as poor quality. Think of all the free things you were offered. They may have been totally useless or had some hidden cost that you later discovered. But this is not God’s way. He offers true life. He reminds the people that they are already trying to sustain life with things that do not have any value. Just like “empty calories” produce poor health and illness, so too does life without God at the center.

In verse 3, God gives a second call to listen closely to this message. If they listen, they will discover that they will have true life God’s faithful promise. The term used is “Everlasting Covenant”. We don’t often speak of covenants today. However, the word is also used to describe a marriage covenant. So if we think of God’s promises as His vows toward us, we will begin to understand the generous and faithful offer God is making to us all. In the text, God compares this covenant to the love and promises He made to David. God took a small and insignificant boy and anointed him to be King over Israel. God exalted David to be a leader who would have an eternal lineage of Kings after Him. And we know that Jesus is the fulfillment of that promise. The Covenant Promise of Isaiah 55 is to receive Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

We respond by actively seeking

God calls, but we must answer. How do we answer this call? We answer in the following ways:

Incline our ears to hear God’s Word

Seek and call upon Him in prayer

Forsake our sinful ways and thoughts

Return back to God

Anyone who does this will receive God’s compassion and forgiveness. But why should God offer this forgiveness, especially toward sin, rebellion, and the rejection that we often do? It is because the Suffering Servant has offered himself as the solution for the consequences of our sin. Jesus paid the price for our sins. That was an expensive bill, but God handled it. Only He could pay for that bill and debt that we owed.

We should note that we have a responsibility to answer this call. If we think that we are to be passive or inactive, we would be wrong. We are to be actively seeking God. We need to come to Jesus!

Think about this sentence and what it means. “Bob had a ‘come to Jesus’ moment’ after the terrible car accident”. I don’t often quote the urban dictionary, but in this instance, it is pretty good.

Come to Jesus Moment

An epiphany in which one realizes the truth of a matter; a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something; coming clean and admitting failures; realizing the true weight or impact of a negative situation or fact

The Apostle Paul literally had a ‘Come to Jesus’ moment.

Acts 9:1–9 ESV

1 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. 4 And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” 5 And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Paul recognized that he was on the wrong path of life even though he appeared very successful in life. Many would look at Paul and say that he had it all together and was on his way to a successful life. But look at Paul’s new perspective after his encounter with Christ.

Philippians 3:4–9 ESV

4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Paul recognized that his life before without Jesus Christ was empty just like in Isaiah 55. Without Christ, we are spending our life on something that will not satisfy. Isaiah has consistently preached this message: depending upon anything else, God will always end up in ruin. You can not depend upon yourself, nor the other countries, nor any of the leaders of those countries. They will all fade and fail. But God’s truth will not.

God’s call is His Covenant Promise

The final section of Isaiah 55 reminds those who hear this message that it is a life-giving message. Just as rain is essential to cause a cycle of seed for the future and food for the present, so is the Word of God. God’s Word is purposeful. It has the potential power to change us because it contains God’s promises and wisdom. His wisdom is unlike our conventional wisdom or even our best science. It goes beyond our best solution for life. It will accomplish what God has intended it to do in the heart of the one who is willing to listen to it and believe it.

The final words paint a fantastic picture of life in Christ, a life of joy and peace. Joy and peace are things that God gives to us because of the Suffering Servant. The amazing thing is that it is more than just a status update; it is a life for now and the future. God promises to lead us through His Word and the Holy Spirit. And the life in Christ is the life that resembles God’s original plan for humanity. Human life was cursed because of sin. It would be contaminated with thorns and briers, but in the Everlasting Covenant, this would be reversed.

LIFE in Uncertain Times

Isaiah 55 is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the message of life to those who are without Christ. Isaiah reminds us that our LIFE is connected to our seeking God while He is near. We must not forget that there is an urgency to this call. We must not delay in answering it. There is the possibility that it may be our last opportunity to answer it. But it is also the message to us who are believers. The past year has hopefully reminded us that simply focusing on the physical aspect of life is to neglect the other ways God has made us. We may have survived this situation physically intact, but what about our mental health, relationships, and spiritual life? If we conclude that God’s promise is just for physical life, then we misunderstand God’s definition of life. God’s life includes the mental health issue by reminding us to keep our minds on the giver of the Covenant Promise.

Isaiah 26:3–4 ESV

3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. 4 Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

Believers are to continually live out the commands of Isaiah 55:6-7.

Life is worth living during the Pandemic because God offers life in the midst of the pandemic. God offers life after the pandemic. God offers eternal life? Will you answer the call to Life?