Feast at the Edge

Transcript

Hello, my friend... so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 226, Feast at the Edge.

"and behold, joy and gladness, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine. 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.'" Isaiah 22:13.

This verse comes right after a clear call from God: weeping, mourning, shaved heads, sackcloth and ashes. Jerusalem stood before a siege, before judgment, and God was asking for humility, repentance, a sincere turning back to Him. And what did the people do? The complete opposite. Oxen slaughtered, sheep butchered, tables full, cups overflowing. A feast — right at the edge of the abyss.

Notice the phrase that sums it all up: "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." At first it almost sounds like deep philosophy, nearly poetic. But really it's just resignation in disguise. It's saying: since nothing's going to change anyway, let's enjoy it before it's over. That's faith in death, not faith in God.

And that makes me think about how often we do the exact same thing, just wearing modern clothes. When life tightens, when we sense something serious is coming — a loss, a change, a judgment we've earned through our own choices — what's our first instinct? Often it isn't to seek God. It's to seek anesthesia. Food, screens, distraction, anything that mutes the alarm for a few more hours.

The problem isn't eating or drinking — God isn't against a full table in itself. The problem is what that feast was replacing. It stood in the place of repentance. Instead of hearing God's warning and responding with humility, the people chose to drown out the warning with noise and pleasure.

And how many times has God already knocked on your door with a clear call — stop, examine your heart, come back to me — and your answer was one more show to watch, one more purchase, one more distraction? I'm not accusing you, my friend. I'm inviting you to look with honesty.

The good news is that call still stands today. God doesn't stop calling people to repentance just because one generation chose the feast instead. He keeps knocking, keeps calling, keeps offering a way back that doesn't end in "tomorrow we die," but in life.

So today, I want to invite you to stop running. If there's something in you that God is asking you to examine, to confess, to surrender — don't drown it out with one more feast. Answer with truth.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.