Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 262 · September 19
Whosoever Will
“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
Who is doing the inviting at the end of the Bible? One verse holds four short calls, and each one carries the invitation further out: "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
The first Come is spoken by the Holy Spirit and the bride, the church, together. The second is handed to anyone who hears the first, so the person who was invited becomes a person who invites. The third names a condition that anyone can meet just by being honest, and that condition is thirst. The fourth opens the door wider still, to whoever is willing, and the water costs nothing. Isaiah had called out the same kind of invitation long before, calling buyers who had no money: "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat." Jesus stood up at a feast and cried out, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink."
Notice what the second sentence asks of you: "And let him that heareth say, Come." The verse has no room for a person who takes the water and never passes the cup along. The invitation was made to travel outward through the people who said yes to it, and that is the only way it ever reached you.
Seven verses earlier, on the same page, there is a warning: "Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still." Two verses before the invitation comes this: "For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters." So the book that says "whosoever will" also says "the time is at hand," and it shows us people who stayed outside the city. The invitation is as real as the deadline. Today the door is still open, the water is still free, and the Spirit is still saying Come.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 262 is Barns Filled with Plenty (Proverbs 3:10).