Isaiah had a vision. He saw the Lord sitting on a throne,
lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim
stood above Him and one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full
of His glory.”
And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice
of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a
man of 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 touched Isaiah’s mouth with a burning coal in his
hand, which he had taken from the altar. He said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your
iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I wonder how Isaiah knew he was a “man of unclean lips”. Most of us aren’t so self-aware. Humility
isn’t something we are known for in America. American students rank 25th
in math, 17th in science and 14th
in reading. Yet, when asked, these same students speculated that they were
probably number 1 in all categories.
Which led a commentator to state “the only thing America is number 1 in is…self-esteem”.
What follows this vision is God’s decision to commission
Isaiah. I’m sure it has something to do with Isaiah’s humble sense of
unworthiness. It provides a ready answer to the pleading cry “I wonder why God won’t give me something to
do? I have a lot to offer!”
If we pay attention to Isaiah’s vision we can surmise that our
level of humility is directly related to our proximity with God. After all, Isaiah
said, for my
eyes have seen the King, the Lord
of hosts.”
The vision also reminds us that unworthiness is not such a
bad thing…it can be fixed, although, sometimes in a painful manner.
So…the decision is ours. Do we want to be used by God in
unimaginable ways? First we need to get up close to God in order to recognize
we’re unfit to be used at all. Then, we need to let him make us fit. It’s a
blow to our self-esteem but…all self-esteem got us was 14th place
anyway!Live boldly out there today...
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