Question from Scripture: “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” (Isaiah 55:2a ESV)

Connection to Us Today: Most folks are probably enjoying some leave from work, or having family arrive for Christmas holidays, or perhaps you’re the ones traveling to see loved ones. But regardless of who’s coming and going, probably many folks are concerned with stuff and with bills. Spend, spend, spend. We can get so enraptured with stuff and with the buzz of activity and busyness that we eclipse the very name buried within the nomenclature of Christmas. It reminds me of Wordsworth’s poem, “The World Is Too Much With Us”:

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;—

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;

The winds that will be howling at all hours,

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not. Great God! I’d rather be

A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

Principle: When God speaks through the prophet Isaiah, he’s asking a rhetorical question in order to lead us from folly to wisdom. It’s God way of baby talk to humanity because we tend to spend our energies on the temporal and discount or minimize the ultimate and eternal. The toys we purchase this year will likely be old and taken for granted this time next year. 

When you read the rest of Isaiah 55, you will see what the wise person should be most concerned with. 

Application: It’s vital we do not misunderstand. God does not oppose things, nice things, or even an abundance of nice things. What is a danger, however, is when we worship anything or anyone other than God. So often we can mistake the gifts for the Giver. Behind all good things is the even greater God who is goodness Himself.