Today’s Reading:
Isaiah 6:1-13
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw [in a vision] the Lord sitting on a throne, high and exalted, with the train of His royal robe filling the [most holy part of the] temple [Jn. 12:41]. Above Him seraphim (heavenly beings) stood; each one had six wings; with two wings he covered his face, with two wings he covered his feet, and with two wings he flew. And one called out to another, saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is filled with His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, and the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am ruined, Because I am a man of [ceremonially] unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Listen carefully, this has touched your lips; your wickedness [your sin, your injustice, your wrongdoing] is taken away and your sin atoned for and forgiven.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I, Send me!” And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not understand; Keep on looking, but do not comprehend.’ ”Make the heart of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.” 11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities were devastated and without inhabitant, And houses are without people, And the land is utterly desolate, 12 Then Lord has removed [His] people far away, And there are many deserted places in the midst of the land. 13 “And though a tenth [of the people] remain in the land, It will again be subject to destruction [consumed and burned], Like a massive terebinth tree or like an oak, Whose stump remains when it is chopped down. The holy seed [the elect remnant] is its stump [the substance of Israel].”
(Isaiah 6:1-13 AMPFV).
King Uzziah died at about 740 B.C. He remained a leper until his death because he tried to take over the high priest’s duties (2Chro. 26:18-21). Although he had a good and prosperous reign, but many of his people turned away from God. As believers, we should spiritually, and physically be tired with the state of our nation, and so at this stage, surrender ourselves to the service of our Lord Jesus Christ. But then, before God can use us, we need to be cleansed with the blood of Jesus and sanctified by the fire of the Holy Ghost. In verse5, Isaiah realises that he had a sinful, unclean mouth that needed to be cleanse, he must have cried to God for a change. Humility, and not pride should result from any genuine experience with the Lord. He viewed sin as uncleanness which is the key teachings about sin. As sin is also rebellion unto God (Isaiah 1:2). And in verse 6, the fiery seraph touched the live coal directly to Isaiah’s mouth, which action indicate the act of cleansing from sin. This shows that there is no painless cure for sin. Even though forgiveness came from God, not from the burning coal. Only God can forgive sin.
In verse 6 spontaneous touch with the hot coal was recorded but note that answers to our prayers may not come that fast. We all would appreciate instant miraculous deliverance, but in many cases, the Lord put us through a cleansing process. It was after the forgiveness of Isaiah’s sin (v. 8), that God gave the call – “Who will go for Us?” Notice the capital ‘U’ in Us. It stands for God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as in the creation (Gen. 1:26). To that question, Isaiah answered: ‘Here am I, send me!’ (v.8). Isaiah’s heart wanted to serve the Lord, and God knew this. God is looking for a genuine heart towards Him to serve Him. Do you desire to serve God with a perfect heart towards Him? You may not be of a perfect performance before God. He is able and ready to transform your life and behaviour for His service.
This truth should serve as an encouragement to those of us who desire to be of use by God but are afraid. At times we feel that we have too many flaws and are inadequate. Remember, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. God is able to transform a cracked black vessel for his use, and to the glory of his Holy name. We are to come to Him as we are - filthy supposedly unworthy, He is able to bring out something out of nothing to the glory of His name (2Tim. 2:21).
God commissioned Isaiah after his mouth was cleansed (v. 9). But the fact is that, our call, the anointing, and the commissioning could happen at different times and occasion. But no matter the time or the order, the process of preparation for the service of God is as vital today as it was in the days of Isaiah. It is sure that when God calls us to his presence for his service, he is going to do thorough cleansing, healing and deliverance in our lives. We must allow him to have his way in our lives, to do his purposeful good work.
OLUFUNMILAYO TITILOLA ADEKUSIBE
Prayer:
My Father and my God, I declare that You are holy. The whole earth is full of Your glory, in Jesus name.
God of all flesh, here I am forgive my sin, sanctify me with your fire, anoint me, empower me and send me wherever You want to send me, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Every monitoring power working against God’s promises for my life, roast by fire of God, in Jesus name.
Every stubborn monitoring demon, assigned to glue itself to my glory, catch fire, in Jesus name.
Every owner of evil load in my life and family, carry your evil load, by fire by force, in Jesus name.
Father, let the life of our Lord Jesus Christ be genuinely established in the body of Christ, in Jesus name.
All forces of darkness hindering the move of God in our nation, be rendered impotent, in Jesus name.
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