bread for the eater

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.
Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
   a leader and commander for the peoples.
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 the Holy One of Israel,
   for he has glorified you.

Seek the LORD while he may be found;
   call upon him while he is near;
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.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.

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,
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.

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.
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,
   and everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

{Isaiah 55}

Isn't that the most beautiful thing you've ever read?!? I love it. Everything about it.

When scripture has "LORD" in all caps, it references the Old Testament reference to YHWY, or "Yahweh", which is a name for God the Hebrews used to enunciate his you-can-never-touch-this holiness. These verses tell of the LORD having compassion on the wicked, satisfying the thirsty and hungry with the richest of food when they came with nothing to offer, claiming his people for himself and making promises of delight, welcoming strangers who run to his people because these strangers see God and want him, recognizing that some things we won't understand or fully know because his thoughts are higher than ours, and maybe one of my favorite illustrations of the redeemed creation of the mountains and hills bursting into song and the trees clapping their hands in praise of their creator. (Can we say run-on sentence? Warning: that happens a lot when I get excited.) All of these rich truths, and it's written like a beautiful poem.

I just love it. All of it. I feel like I could just post Isaiah 55, conclude this post and each of you would leave this blog more in love with Jesus. Instead, I started this post to explain why I named the blog what I did, so I will.

When I first fell in love with this chapter, it was in the NIV which phrases it a little bit differently, "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (v 10-11)

God's word makes life flourish, and in this poem the picture is for a sower and a bread eater. I don't sow, and am finding I'm also not-so-good at sewing. I do, however, eat bread frequently. I make food daily for all 3 of my men, I enjoy cooking,  I like making meals for friends to help them out in small ways during busy or hard days, and I absolutely love gathering around a giant table with friends for a meal. I can identify with the bread eater in this poem.

I titled the blog "Bread for the Eater" from Isaiah 55, my favorite chapter in scripture. It's used to convey how the Lord's words are not empty. Hopefully this blog shows tiny little pictures of how his word is satisfying because it reveals the intimately personal, abundantly giving, compassionate, and praiseworthy Yahweh.