Willing to Linger

Old Treasures on Tuesdays 👑

Grab a cup of your favorite beverage, settle in, and let Holy Spirit wash over you with refreshing as you listen:

(Blessed by this? Find more like it on my Feeding on Jesus podcast, available on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and most other podcast platforms!)

(This the last of a three-part series. You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.)

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Over the last two weeks, we’ve been talking about what it looks like to respond to Jesus’ life-altering invitation, “Come to Me.” We discussed how to posture our hearts in response to His tender beckoning. This week, we’re going to wrap up this discussion with a few more thoughts on the matter. What else is our Savior looking for in us, as we respond to His call? Let’s marinate today in a few verses that address this question.

Through the following Scriptures, the One who loves us more than His own life continues to draw us unto Himself. In doing so, He asks us to be…

1) Willing to Adopt a Posture of Utter Dependency. This characteristic goes hand in hand with the willingness to be childlike. The Prophet Isaiah beautifully expressed the heart of the Savior on this: “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” (Isa. 55:1, ESV, emphasis mine).

He’s so eager for us to come to Him. Do you hear His voice? He’s gently pointing out to us that we don’t have any “money.” We can’t pay for the extravagant provision He is offering. In spirit, we are utterly poor. Our own attempts to be good enough are as “filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6). All we can do is receive His lavishness with sheer, overflowing gratitude.

Again, He is calling to us, beckoning to us, with unutterable tenderness. “Come! Without anything to offer in return, come unto Me! Please, let Me lavish you. Let me satiate your soul’s hunger and thirst with the richest of fare!”

You know, your relationship with Him — it’s nothing you do for Him. “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Rom. 9:16, ESV). As His Word also pointedly asks us, who has ever given to God? (Rom. 11:35). It’s all about what He has done for us, and continues to do, for and in and through us, every day of our lives. He delights to perpetually pour out His opulent goodness on us! The more we surrender to the position of utter dependency on Him, the more we will be able to receive of Him this abundance.

2) Willing to Linger and Listen. Will we come to Him? If so, we’ll need to learn to become eager, unhurried listeners. “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live” (Isa. 55:2-3, ESV, emphasis mine).

Have you ever felt the emotions this passage describes? Like you’ve worked so hard, spent yourself in vain, and you “can’t get no satisfaction”? Yeah, He gets that. And He has something so much better He wants to bestow on you and me. SO. MUCH. BETTER. But it’s going to take some lingering. It’s going to take some leaning in for His whispers. No half-hearted or hurried listening is going to do it for us. What He’s beckoning us into is a lifetime of intimacy with Him. “Listen diligently… incline your ear… come to Me…”

Respond. Be willing. Come to Him. Snuggle in. Listen to His heartbeat with all that you are. Listen to its steady rhythm telling you everything is going to be so much better than okay. Listen to His gentle murmurs reassuring you of your permanent place in His arms. Listen to whatever He wants to share with you. What is He thinking? What is He feeling? Will you ask Him? Will you let Him share His heart with you? Will you become His confidant? Will you become His eager listener?

“Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me…” (Isa. 55:2-3, NKJV).

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Have you, like me, been on a long journey of learning to come to Him, learning to listen for His voice? Is there a particular lesson from this journey that sticks out to you the most?