Living With Jesus

Day 17 · Week 3

Coming With Empty Hands

Passage: Isaiah 55:1–3; Revelation 3:17–18
Memory Verse: Matthew 5:3

Today's Scripture

Isaiah 55:1 (KJV)
“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat...”

The Thought

Imagine walking into a store with no money and being invited to take exactly what you need.

Isaiah uses that surprising picture to describe God's grace. “He that hath no money” is invited to come.

That fits Jesus' words about being poor in spirit. Spiritually, we come to God with empty hands. We cannot purchase forgiveness. We cannot trade enough good deeds for a clean heart. We cannot place God in our debt.

That can be difficult for people who are used to earning things. We work for wages, study for grades, practice to improve, and save to buy what we need. Those are normal parts of life.

But salvation is different.

Jesus offers what we could never earn. Forgiveness, a new heart, eternal life, and citizenship in His kingdom come to us because of His grace.

Our empty hands are not a reason to stay away. They are the very hands with which we receive His gift.

The danger is pretending they are full.

Jesus once warned a church that said, “I am rich... and have need of nothing,” when spiritually it was poor. Recognizing our need is not weakness when it leads us to the One who can supply it.

Talk About It

Why do people sometimes prefer earning something rather than receiving it as a gift?

Remember It

Grace means that God gives us in Christ what we could never provide for ourselves.

Pray About It

Thank Jesus for offering salvation freely. Ask Him to keep your family from becoming satisfied with yourselves instead of depending upon Him.


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