Ho, ye thirsty ones, come and drink.” This is our friend’s call, as he walks slowly down the street of an Eastern city. He may have walked some miles, to fill his goatskin with clear water and now, after carefully tying all leaky points, he is ready to begin his daily rounds.
“Ho, ye thirsty ones, come and drink.” He passes a tired old woman, heavily loaded and thirsty too but she does not buy from him for she has no money.
“Ho, ye thirsty ones,” he calls again. A young gentleman passes by but he does not stop. He has had plenty to drink elsewhere, and he is not thirsty.
“Ho, ye thirsty ones,” he repeats the call. Perhaps Isaiah the prophet, many years ago, was one who paid his money for a drink from the goatskin bag, and his heart was moved with pity for the many who could not afford to buy. At last the water seller’s bag is flat and empty, and he goes his way.
I don’t suppose you have ever heard the cry of the water seller, but there is another cry that comes to you today. By the Holy Spirit of God, Isaiah cried, “He, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,... yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without, price.” Isaiah 55:11Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. (Isaiah 55:1).
Isn’t it wonderful that God should choose to be a Giver like this? He does not ask for money, He just calls for thirsty sinners and promises joy eternal and life everlasting through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The water seller calls until his bag is empty. God calls until His day of grace is done. When is that? I don’t know, but there are plenty of signs that we are near the end of God’s day of grace right now. Perhaps He will not call to you tomorrow. Are you coming, coming now as a thirsty sinner, to God who calls you?
After God’s day of invitation, comes God’s day of judgment, and “the fire that never shall be quenched.” God says that there is not one drop of water in hell. God’s loving invitation is also a command. Listen now and obey.
ML 07/23/1950