“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance” (Is 55:1, 2)

The prayer meeting was very good. The presence of God was strong in our midst. It is always humbling and reviving to just come ‘as you are’ and kneel at the feet of the Lord Jesus. We heard the voice of God calling, calling our names from the burning bush… We stood ion holy ground… The Heavens were open over us… God was Calling us to come: the sinners, the poor, the foolish rich, the broken hearted, the disappointed, the sick and the backslider. We were the wretched guests, rejected by the world, coming to the banquet of His majesty. We were invited in. On the table set in the wilderness we found exactly what our souls desired for so long: Water (of life), Milk (to grow) and Wine (to rejoice). We did not need money. Jesus paid it all. We only needed to be thirsty and to have faith that God is good always. The food on the table was good and abundant.

To better understand the generous and abundant invitation to the table of grace, I told the brethren to think about a moment in their lives when they eat to their satisfaction, without any fear at the end of the meal (fear to pay the bill, fear that the food will finish or that the calories are too many…). I told them a story… when I was a teenager, my parents, my sister and I were invited at our cousin’s wedding (This is in Romania about 50 years ago). The food they gave to the children and the youth was so much that it was scary. Myself and the other children we decided to compete, who eats the most. They served us ‘sarmale’ (this is a Romanian dish, my favorite even up till now. It is sour cabbage rolls filled with minced meat, rice and spices). The sarmale were very good and very many. I ate 42 pieces!!! I won the competition but I could not get up from the table. I still remember the feeling of being filled to the brim with the best food ever!!! (These days I cannot do it anymore because of diet etc…). The reason why I told them this story is to understand why God is calling to us to His table. He wants to fill us to the brim, to satisfy our deepest hearts’ desires with His Son Jesus Christ. If you do not understand my ‘sarmale’ story, if you have never experienced a moment of total satisfaction in your life, then you will not understand Isaiah 55. It is true that in this world, even when the best things happen to us (money, promotion, marriage and children…) there is always a limit to the joy we experience. There is some disappointment, some guilt or some anxiety about tomorrow. But in God’s presence there is fullness of joy! God wants you to come and be filled with His Spirit! God wants to satisfy you! May you recognize your thirst for true love found in Christ alone! Come to the table! Come to the water of life and drink! You shall thirst no more! Come to Jesus! Come!