Posted on December 28, 2022 by Elizabeth Welte in Freedom Fighters
“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to Me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.” — Isaiah 55:1-2 (NLT)
So, my wife and I spent our Christmas with her brother and his wife. Our nephew was there with his wife and their new born baby boy, Levi. Overall, it was a nice, quiet time spent with family and of course there was food. My wife made some fancy dips that came with some fancy crackers and breads, not too shabby I gotta say. My nephew’s wife made a buffalo chicken spread that also went pretty good with those fancy crackers and breads. There was a huge bowl of this Oreo cookie inspired trifle that was so good and so rich. And of course, there was dinner, a very simple ham, potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower kinda dinner…nothing fancy about it at all (unless you wanna count the butter in the potatoes).
I kinda think that our simple ham dinner is reflective on the Christmas Story as a whole. Like with all those fancy dips and spreads, there are many fancy prophecies on the coming of a Messiah who will save His people from their sins. Like with all those fancy crackers and breads are the stories where those prophecies covered a time period. Just like that huge bowl of rich tastin’, fancy lookin’, Oreo cookie inspired gooey goodness is what we think the end game of those prophecies are. But it’s the simple ham dinner that’s like the Savior in a manger. There wasn’t anything fancy about that but like that simple ham dinner, that Savior in a manger would solve a basic hunger that dwells within us all.
In his devotional book, “Come Let Us Adore Him” Paul Tripp talks about our basic hunger that Jesus came to satisfy and he covered a few passages of Scripture that points to God’s plan on satisfying His Creation’s hunger. To quote Tripp, “The birth of Jesus is an invitation to finally have your spiritual belly filled with the most beautiful, hunger-satiating food ever.” Just when you thought Christmas was an elaborate birthday party, now, apparently it turns out that God hears your spiritual groaning and wants you to be filled with what He provides rather than Santa’s provision.
“The poor shall eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the LORD. Let your heart live forever!” — Psalm 22:26
Today’s opening verse is an invitation to feast and be satisfied, after all, it’s free. Why weigh silver for what is not bread or labor for what does not satisfy when you’re knee deep in spiritual bankruptcy? The Lord is not only inviting you to feast on what He provides to satisfy your spiritual hunger but His exhortation to you is to quit eating what cannot spiritually fill you up. And speaking of being knee deep in spiritual bankruptcy, Psalm 22:26 is a promise that those who are poor (some translations say afflicted) shall eat and be satisfied. Our sin makes us spiritually poor, and the harsh reality of poverty is hunger, so it’s probably best to let God fill that hunger and not allow the world of drive through self-help methods to do that.
But what is it that God is providing? What can fill us up? What is it? Well, if you turn to John 6 for a moment, skip over the two small fish and five barley loaves of bread part, get in the boat and head on over to Capernaum (don’t mind the storm Jesus has got that) we’ll find Jesus telling His followers where the manna came from and when His followers request that He provide for them the true bread from heaven, Jesus will announce, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” So, it’s Jesus for the spiritually hungry, but wait there’s more.
“And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” — Luke 22:19
So, the birth of Jesus is really an invitation to the best dinner ever, and yes, this passage in Luke tells us how Jesus intends to deliver that bread and how it gets served but that invite is really for this moment. “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” (Rev 19:9b) This invite was written through the shed blood of a crucified Savior and it is as simple as ham, potatoes and veggies…and it reads as follows, “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Now those are some good leftovers. Amen?
Written by Chris Hughes: Chris is a child of El Elyon, a son, husband, a father, has an education in Biblical doctrine and is a graduate of The Colony of Mercy. He has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008. You can email him at cphughes515@verizon.net.
Think About This: “And Jesus, in His life and death, paid the price that we could never afford to pay, so that we could sit at the banquet table of His grace and finally be satisfied.” — Paul David Tripp
The Daily Bible Reading: Zechariah 7-9; Revelation 19You can download our 2022 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here.
This Week’s Verse to Memorize: “Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!” Psalm 105:1
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