December 10, 2025
You Can’t Buy What
is Already Free
"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. 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; and I will make with you
an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for
David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you
shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation
that did not know you shall run to you, because of the
Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has
glorified you."
I S A I A H 5 5 : 1 - 5
Parties, feasts, and neverending gifts fill our calendars and
our homes this time of year. Yet, ironically, the outward excess
of the holiday season sometimes only serves to reinforce our
loneliness and homesickness. And even when our festivities offer joy, good company and belonging, and filling food, once all
the trimmings come down, the leftovers have been tossed, and
silence again fills our rooms, we are confronted with the truth
that, here and now, even the merriest of homes isn’t permanent,
and our food and drink never fully satisfy.
In chapter 55, the prophet Isaiah offers us a feast greater
than anything the holiday season could conjure up. From the
very first verse, we know this is a different type of gathering because everyone who thirsts (which is to say every man, woman,
and child) is invited. We are invited “to buy” but without money
and without price.
Even our most lavish attempts at generosity can’t produce
gifts like this. The human heart runs on expectation and quantification. We accept gifts, only to feel guilty later that we didn’t
remember to give something in return. We adore spoiling our
loved ones, but later our feelings get hurt when they don’t act as
grateful as we would hope. We refuse to accept anything as truly free but instead prefer to work for what Isaiah says does not satisfy: whether that’s holiday festivities or the works we assume
will lead us to righteousness.
And yet, the gifts of the Lord are impossible to buy. There is
absolutely nothing we can give in order to receive God’s gifts; laboring for them will do you no good (and may even ruin them). His
invitation to dwell with him is only as good as it is free. The bread
of his word is so rich that it fills both our stomachs and our souls.
And we eat it not through our mouths, but through our ears.
These are the strange and wonderful truths of God’s feast,
which never ends when we find ourselves in his presence. Whether you find yourself joyful or forlorn this Advent season, at home or
far from it,
remember that you are called now and forevermore
to enter God’s home and partake at his table;
so fill your ears
with his word, and delight in the food and drink of his salvation
and righteousness.
HEAVENLY FATHER, THANK YOU FOR THE NEVERENDING FEAST OF FREE
GIFTS AND THE PERMANENT PLACE OF BELONGING YOU
GIVE ME IN JESUS. AMEN.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be
translated in whole or in part into any other language.
You are permitted to use this 2025 Advent Guide and its additional resources in your
church or ministry for free, as long as you do not charge for the guide, or use it for any
commercial purpose.
Coming Home for Christmas: Advent in Isaiah © 2025 1517
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