The provision which cannot be purchased.
In a country like our own we hardly know what thirst means. Few Englishmen have suffered from intense thirst. A man must live or travel in other latitudes to be exposed to this evil. But judging from the accounts of those who have suffered, we conclude that it is almost, if not absolutely, the severest and most intolerable sensation to which "flesh is heir." It may very well be taken as a picture of—
I. THE UNSATISFIED CRAVING OF THE HUMAN SOUL. The hunger and thirst of the human heart must necessarily be more serious by far than the cravings of the body; for they are the longing, the yearning, the keen and imperious demand of our higher and truer self. Man thirsts after God. Spite of all the downward tendencies, the earthward inclinations, the sensuous leanings of our human nature, it remains true that there is a profound, ineradicable crying of our soul after the living God (see Psalms 42:1; Psalms 63:1).
1. The intelligence of man thirsts for the ultimate Cause of all things.
2. The immortal spirit which man (not has, but) is, thirsts for the satisfying joy which is only found in his fellowship and his service.
3. The guilty heart of man thirsts for a thorough reconciliation with him. Man knows that he has sinned, that he is condemned, that his guilt stands as an impassable barrier between him and his God, and he earnestly longs to be forgiven and restored, so that he may again lift up his face to his Divine Father in filial confidence and joy. But he asks—How? "How shall man be just with God?" (Job 9:2). "Wherewith shall we come before the Lord?" (Micah 6:6, Micah 6:7). Beneath all the louder cries that fill the air, deep in the soul of man is the demand—What shall we do that we may live before God and with him? There can be no final rest in our heart until this question has been answered in our experience.
II. THE PRECIOUS PROVISION WHICH IS OFFERED US. In the truth which God has revealed in his Word, and more particularly in that Son of God who is himself the great Revelation of the Father, we have that which satisfies our spiritual need.
1. It is that which slakes our spiritual thirst. "Come ye to the waters." Water relieves and removes thirst as nothing else will. The forgiveness, the restoration, the reinstatement which is in Jesus Christ perfectly satisfies the intense craving of the soul. It brings a surpassing, transcendent peace.
2. It is that which nourishes the soul in all spiritual strength. "Buy … milk."
3. It is that which gladdens it with true and abiding joy. "Buy wine."
III. THE PRICELESSNESS OF THIS DIVINE PROVISION. The prophet may indeed say, "Buy;" for these provisions are worth all the wealth that the most opulent can offer. But he has to add, "without money and without price;" for these blessings cannot be earned or purchased by us. God cannot sell his love, his mercy, his restoration of erring children. He does not meet us on the ground on which a creditor meets his debtors. He is, indeed, a Divine Creditor; we owe him ten thousand talents of reverence and gratitude and service we have never paid. But he does not demand of us some pence in the pound before he certifies that we are free. We frankly confess that we have nothing to pay, and he "frankly forgives us all" (Luke 7:42). God offers us his redeeming love, everlasting life, as the gift of his grace—a glorious gift, freely offered on his part, and to be gladly accepted on ours. He necessarily imposes conditions; but these are open to every soul, and none need reject them; they are the turning away of our hearts from sin, and the acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Divine Saviour and Lord.—C.
Wasted strength.
It has often been remarked of the criminal population that, if they would only give to honest and honourable pursuits the same patient attention, the same untiring energy, the same keen ingenuity, which they now devote to illegal schemes, they would soon rise to competence and honour. Perhaps the essence of this great mistake may be found in those who are very far removed from the criminal class; there are many in all vocations and positions of life who are wasting their strength on that which is unprofitable, who might be effecting great things for others or for themselves if they would only "labour for that which satisfies." This principle will apply to—
I. THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. What immense pains were taken by the scribes of our Lord's time in mastering the minute points of Old Testament Scripture! It ended in a barren and guilty formalism which called down the severest condemnations that came from the lips of Christ. If they had only spent their strength on gaining the heavenly wisdom with which those sacred pages are enriched, they would have been much better men, and would have received the Messiah in a very different spirit. We, too, may expend a vast amount of unprofitable labour on the Scriptures, trying to secure their sanction for our fancies or foibles, and leave untouched their springs of truth and power and life.
II. THE WORK IN THE MASTER'S VINEYARD. We shall certainly not include in wasted strength or unsatisfying labour the energy spent in laying, the foundation, although the workman may not live to see the walls of the building use; this may be the most honourable, remunerative, profoundly satisfying work of a man's life: this, indeed, was the work of the Saviour of mankind. But we shall include:
1. Labour which is merely superficial, which the wind of changing circumstance soon "driveth away."
2. The deliverance of one-sided truth—a statement of doctrine which is so partial as to be practically false. This must issue in disappointment; it is building of "wood, hay, and stubble," which will be burned.
3. Irreverent activity, on which the blessing of God is not sought, and on which, consequently, it does not descend.
III. THE PURSUIT OF PERSONAL WELL-BEING.
1. All men seek happiness; they give freely of their various resources to obtain it—money, strength, ingenuity, patience; they endure hardship and even suffering in order to secure it.
2. A very large proportion of mankind is bitterly disappointed. What promised to be bread turns out to be chaff; what looked like satisfaction in the distance proves to be weariness and heartache in experience.
3. The disappointment is due to one fundamental mistake—they adopt a false method. They risk everything on some one object—wealth, fame, power, pleasure, friendship—which either eludes their grasp or proves unsatisfying and vain. They should become the active servants of God, listening when he speaks, accepting what he offers, going whither he directs. In the earnest, faithful service of a Divine Saviour is happiness of the truest kind—blessedness, well-being, life; the pure, lasting satisfaction of the soul.—C.