Let us thank God for answered prayers. And let us continue to pray
for those who need God's blessing upon their lives. Let's pray
today for those who are having medical exams.
Here is our study guide for today:
Tuesday: Read Isaiah 6. This is a powerful story which inspired
one of our favorite hymns, "Here I Am, Lord." Read this story as if
YOU were Isaiah in the heavenly court. What would have been your
response towards the "invitation" to serve? Note that
transformation and preparation were needed. What needs to be
transformed and prepared in your life?
Here is that text (NRSV):
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a
throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2
Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two
they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and
with two they flew. 3 And one called to another and said: "Holy,
holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his
glory." 4 The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those
who called, and the house filled with smoke. 5 And I said: "Woe is
me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a
people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of
hosts!" 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal
that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 The
seraph touched my mouth with it and said: "Now that this has touched
your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out." 8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and
who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send me!" 9 And he
said, "Go and say to this people: "Keep listening, but do not
comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.' 10 Make the mind
of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so
that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears,
and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed." 11 Then I
said, "How long, O Lord?" And he said: "Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is
utterly desolate; 12 until the Lord sends everyone far away, and
vast is the emptiness in the midst of the land. 13 Even if a tenth
part remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an
oak whose stump remains standing when it is felled." The holy seed
is its stump.
The good thing about this passage is that it is in the first
person. If you read it aloud and pretend you're Isaiah, you're
halfway to understanding this vision of the Lord for Isaiah's life.
A very popular king had died and with him the hope for the nation's
return to greatness; in that state of mourning comes this vision to
this man who is suddenly in the presence of the heavenly courts and
with God himself. For Isaiah the sight of God's robe that filled
the temple is awesome, and then to see these angelic creatures
proclaiming God's holiness, is all what we should feel in worship.
God is holy, we're in need of God's blessing, and in God's presence
we declare the awesomeness of God. Isaiah declares, "Woe is me!" or
as The Message has him saying, "I'm as good as dead!" If we had
this type of vision we would believe we were dead, wouldn't we?
Yet, this vision was to call or invite Isaiah to do something, but
not until after an angel had touched a live coal to Isaiah's lips to
make him unclean and worthy of being in God's presence. God is
looking for someone to send, to go on God's behalf. Isaiah, now
feeling clean volunteers and says, "Here I am, send me!"
I pray that our weekly worship would indeed be settings like this
for God to be praised and glorified and for us to realize how much
we stand in need of being blessed; and for us to realize God's
invitation is daily. We're called each day, through prayer and
study to follow Christ and to share Christ with others. It
shouldn't take such a life-threatening or scary experience such as
this to make us realize how much God can use us to share His love in
this world. It simply takes our being willing to truly say, "Here I
am, send me." With faith, our yes is our approval to let God help
us in whatever it is that God has prepared for us. Green means go!
PRAYER: God of power and glory, here I am, send me. I go with the
fullness of faith that Your strength and grace are sufficient to see
me through whatever You would have me do this day. I pray in Jesus'
name. Amen.
Have a great and glorious day! Say yes to God.
Blessings,
e.v.
