Cleansed and Ready - Himalayan Heights – August 1 Readings: Isaiah 6:6-8 – Send Me

Isaiah 6: A Vision of God

All Scripture is God-breathed and useful, but there are some Scriptures that we can consider the Himalayan mountaintops of the Bible. In the next few months, we will be looking at a series of great texts that inspire and move us - the "Himalayan Heights" of God's Word.

Today's Reading:  Isaiah 6:6-8

Isaiah had a magnificent vision of God in which God called him to a task. Over the next 4 days, we will examine his vision, his call, and some surprising aspects of what God did in Isaish and through him.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne, and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2 Seraphim[a] were standing above him; they each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 And one called to another:

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies;
his glory fills the whole earth.

4 The foundations of the doorways shook at the sound of their voices, and the temple was filled with smoke.

5 Then I said:

Woe is me for I am ruined
because I am a man of unclean lips
and live among a people of unclean lips,
and because my eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of Armies.

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said:

Now that this has touched your lips,

your iniquity is removed
and your sin is atoned for.

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking:

Who will I send?
Who will go for us?

I said:

Here I am. Send me.

9 And he replied:

Go! Say to these people:
Keep listening, but do not understand;
keep looking, but do not perceive.
10 Make the minds[c] of these people dull;
deafen their ears and blind their eyes;
otherwise they might see with their eyes
and hear with their ears,
understand with their minds,
turn back, and be healed.

11 Then I said, “Until when, Lord?” And he replied:

Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants,
houses are without people,
the land is ruined and desolate,
12 and the Lord drives the people far away,
leaving great emptiness in the land.
13 Though a tenth will remain in the land,
it will be burned again.
Like the terebinth or the oak
that leaves a stump when felled,
the holy seed is the stump.

Through the Bible Readings: Job 13-14, Acts 24, Psalm 89:28–34, Proverbs19:7–9 

If you wish to read through the Bible in a year, follow these readings. 

Devotional:  Cleansed and Ready

Close your eyes for a brief visualization experiment. Imagine that you've got the barbecue going strong. You take a pair of tongs, reach down and pick up a hot coal from the grill. You take it and touch your lips with the coal. In my visualization, that hurts. A lot.  I don't like chapped lips. A hot coal? No thanks. 

Yet that is exactly the picture that God used to describe Isaiah's cleansing process. The angel touched his lips with a coal from the altar to cleanse him. The process of repentance and confession is a painful thing.  It is humbling and difficult. However, it is the key to being usable by God. Until we come to a point of sorrow for our sins, and turn to God in repentance, we will not be ready to be used by God in His mighty power. 

When God calls us, when he cleanses us, it is because he intends to use us. Isaiah saw God and was horrified at his own sin. He called out to God and God cleansed him. All of this led to verse 8 where God sought a volunteer and the prophet said, "Send me."

We are speaking of more than just activity and churchwork. We often judge people and their devotion to Christ by how much work they do in the church. We win people to Christ, then tell them to get busy for God.  Do something.  Activity is spirituality. 

No. But when we are full of God we will be active in the service of the Savior.  Henry Blackaby said that God always gives "God-sized" assignments.  When Moses encountered God at the burning bush, he soon found himself on the road to Egypt.  David came to know God on the hillside, then was suddenly anointed king of Israel.  Saul got saved; Paul got called.   God doesn't save us to spiritual idleness.

God called Isaiah,  then he cleansed Isaiah, and finally he assigned him a task. God's work IN us is preparation for God's work THROUGH  us. 

Think and Pray:

As painful as it is,  are you repenting and seeking God's cleansing power?

Are you serving kingdom purposes? Is your life counting for Christ?