Then I Heard The Voice Of The Lord Saying, "Who Shall I Send?' And Who Will Go For Us?" And I Said, "Here I Am, Send Me."

ISAIAH 6-5-8

“So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” Also 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.””

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭6:5-8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

https://www.bible.com/114/isa.6.5-8.nkjv

Isaiah, coming into God’s presence, seeing the Lord and listening to the angels praise (1-4), realised that he was of unclean lips, he was sinful before God. He had come to realise that he had no way of measuring up to God standards of holiness.

The seraphim, six winged beings described in Isaiah 6 as being near God's throne, continually praising him with the cry "Holy, holy, holy". They are often depicted with red wings and are considered among the highest ranks of angels, supernaturally created to serve and worship God, brought the live coal to cleanse Isaiah of all wrongdoing, and when the hot coal touched his lips, Isaiah’s sins were forgiven and purification was complete.

It was not the coal that cleansed him, but God.

In response, Isaiah submitted his whole life to serving God.

The painful process of cleansing was necessary so that Isaiah would be fully ready to fulfil the tasks God was calling him to do. 

Jesus paid our debt of sin by dying on a cross, His pain was unmeasurable, but He suffered that we may live, even though, like Isaiah, we believers have no way of measuring up to His standard of holiness.

Regardless, like Isaiah, we believers are all called to serve and must be cleansed as was Isaiah before we  can fully accept God’s call to represent Him to others.

The process of preparation, confessing our sins, and submitting to God’s control, the trials and testings that God allows us to endure can be very painful, but represent the live coal that touched and purified Isaiah.

But the truth is, it is not the pain of our testing that cleanses us, it is Christ who did that on a cross and we believers are cleansed by the blood of Jesus (1 JOHN 1:7).

But the painful process of trials and testing seem very unfair at times, but are absolutely necessary to prepare us for our life in Christ, the assignments He has for us, and our eternal future.

Only then can we really represent God and complete the tasks He has for us to the full.

As James tells us, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing (JAMES 1:2-4).

Jesus died for you you, are you ready to live for Him? Are you ready like Isaiah, to look up to God and say, “Here I am, send me.”

All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.