This week on my podcast (click here to check it out) I spent some time in Isaiah 55. I love this passage because it presents a beautiful invitation from the Lord, in His own voice:

Eternal One: If you are thirsty, come here; come, there’s water for all.

Whoever is poor and penniless can still come and buy the food I sell.

There’s no cost—here, have some food, hearty and delicious, and beverages, pure and good.

I don’t understand why you spend your money for things that don’t nourish or work so hard for what leaves you empty.

Attend to Me and eat what is good; enjoy the richest, most delectable of things.

Listen closely, and come even closer. My words will give life, for I will make a covenant with you that cannot be broken, a promise of My enduring presence and support like I gave to David.

Isaiah 55:1-3, the Voice Bible

We are invited, in our poverty and thirst, to come and enjoy His provision and His presence. We aren’t required to be worthy or bring anything…. just ourselves. We are invited to receive and to hear from Him. Read those verses again. The invitation is so beautiful.

Now, consider this question. When the Lord beckons to you to come and enter into His care, how do you approach?

Perhaps you head right in, as a child who’s come home breezes through the front door with excitement and confidence.

Or maybe you hesitate, as though you’re a servant who must cautiously enter in through the back entrance.

Which best describes you? Take a moment to talk to the Lord about this. Press in to get a sense of His response to you.

Tell me about it in the comments below if you feel comfortable!

Without a doubt, God wants you to come boldly through the front door of His presence and approach knowing how much you are wanted and loved. Though we do serve Him, we are first and foremost His children, loved and cherished. No more entering through the servant’s entrance and hovering in the shadows to gather courage for an approach.

Come on in through the front door. You’re home.

jesus mary joseph photo

It has taken some serious effort for me to focus on the true meaning of Christmas. I’ve allowed myself to get overwhelmed multiple times with all of the things to do and all of the places to go. Yesterday at church, I decided to press in (with all the strength I could muster) to Jesus for the hour. I yearned to put my complete focus on Him and to push out all of that other stuff.

As we sang beautiful songs about His birth and His light, I closed my eyes and imagined myself walking into a rough stable. I was both years and miles from anywhere familiar, but when I saw Him– when I knelt beside Him– I felt immediately at home.

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