Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “A prosperous life”
Our Bible verse for today: Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! Why do you spend money on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods. Pay attention and come to Me; listen, so that you will live.” Isaiah 55:1-3 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “The best things in life are not things.”
This passage in Isaiah 55:1-3 is intended by God to be a metaphor. He uses the example of one thing to make a point about another. In this case He uses the elements of physical sustenance such as water for the thirsty, food for the hungry, and buying power for the poor, to make a point about spiritual fulfillment.
There is actually a double meaning in this passage, with the second being more important than the first. In the most direct sense, God is reminding us that He is the source of our physical provision. Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:25-34 that our Heavenly Father knows our needs and He will provide for us. Our focus needs to be on seeking His kingdom and His righteousness and then, “all these things will be added to you.”
But the larger meaning here is a spiritual one. God’s best blessings are not physical, they are spiritual. The best things in life are not things, and therefore they cannot be measured by bank accounts or the accumulation of possessions. A faithful person is blessed by God with a life filled with the Fruit of the Spirit as described by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control.”
A person who is living in the fullness of Christ will experience those nine spiritual virtues in ever-increasing degrees. Their life will be characterized by love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faith and gentleness and self-control. When that’s the kind of person you are, you will be living a prosperous life regardless of other circumstances that may exist around you. That’s why those Haitian Christians I referred to in a previous message had such joy and peace in the midst of so much poverty and instability.
I encourage you to give careful and prayerful thought to your priorities in life. You should be working hard, doing a good job, and earning enough money to support yourself and your family. But there are other aspects of life that are more important, and which will do more to improve your overall quality of life than will money and possessions. Ask God to help you see if perhaps some adjustments need to be made in your life.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 