“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.” — Isaiah 55:1–2

“The best things in life are free,” so the saying goes. Everyone has heard it, but very few actually live like that’s true. In a culture that is constantly reminding us of all the toys that we don’t have, it’s hard to keep focused on what’s truly important.

Take a moment and think about what matters most to you.

What comes up for you? What do you really want? Love, health, happiness, friendship, inner peace, wisdom, freedom, security. The list goes on and on. But did you notice? Not one can be bought with the green stuff that we call money! So then why have we come to be so focused on it?

The prophet Isaiah reminds us about what really satisfies us. The things that can be bought are not what makes us full. As the prophet says, “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy?”

Most of what we pay for is momentarily gratifying, but is not what will satisfy us in the long run. Big, fancy homes are nice, but they don’t make a happy family. Fast cars are fun, but they don’t create genuine respect. No, you can’t buy happiness or respect. They have to come from another source. And they just happen to be free.

Everything we truly care about can be ours if we earn them. But we can’t earn them at a 9–5 job. We only can earn them through 24/7 service to God. We earn them by learning and living His Word.

The Bible is God’s greatest gift to man. “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters . . .” God’s Word is essential like water. It gives us the basic recipe for living a good life. “Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”  God’s Word is also luxurious like milk and wine. The Scriptures provide the tools for living an extraordinarily sweet and rich life. The Bible gives us everything we need and everything we want – and it is all at no cost.

Next time you find yourself thinking “if only I had more money . . .” remember this truth:  There are just some things that money can’t buy. Thankfully, those are the things that really count.