There are two passages assigned for today!

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 6
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” [Isaiah 6:5]
If God ever revealed Himself to us completely, we would not survive – not because He is mean but because God is so awesome, so glorious; like the sun only more so, we cannot survive full exposure to God.
This is a vision, a mediated experience of God in His glory, and Isaiah is undone; he expects to die.
But God does not want to destroy us, therefore He reveals Himself to us in limited doses.
And the impure, unholy stuff (the dross that burns when gold is placed in fire) He removes by grace…
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”[Isaiah 6:6-7]
God reveals Himself to us in ways that we can endure, and He removes the barriers that stand between us.

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! [John 1:29]
To understand these passages, we need to know about the Jewish religion; at the heart of it, there is the temple (where people meet God) and the priest (the mediator between God and people) and the altar where a lamb is sacrificed (symbolizing how God forgives us our guilt by accepting a substitute).
According to John the Baptist, Jesus is the substitute lamb that is sacrificed on the altar (cross) to remove our guilt.
Now notice where the coal comes from, from the altar; and notice how the coal (representing the fire of judgment) is used to remove guilt and pay for Isaiah’s sin.
Jesus is the fulfillment of all the Jewish imagery, representing the removal of our guilt and the restoring of our relationship with God – what the temple symbolizes!
God is holy, we are unholy (impure, sin-full) and we could not survive an encounter with God – unless He removed all the barriers, and made it possible for us.
This is what Isaiah experiences, this is what Jesus accomplishes, and this is what we can experience too.
God wants to bridge the gap between us and Him; God wants fellowship with us, to delight in us as His children.

God wants this for everyone, not just for us; His plan has always been to invite all people – all nations – to come back to Him, to accept His mercy and be restored to Him through His gracious sacrifice.
This is why He chose the Jewish nation in the first place, to be a bridge to the nations, to share with all people the message of His forgiveness and love.
In light of this, imagine God’s frustration and anger when His own missionaries refuse to listen, refuse to obey.
The calling of Isaiah to speak to Israel is God’s response to their disobedience.
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!” [Isaiah 6:8]
God will announce His anger and judgment through Isaiah; He will use Isaiah to harden the hearts of the stubborn, to expose their rebellious, unloving hearts.
He said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” [Isaiah 6:9-10]

Isaiah is God’s missionary, sent to announce God’s message in a way that will separate those with hearts for God from those whose hearts are closed to God.
Jesus has the same message, and even quotes these words to explain why He speaks in parables [Matthew 13:10-15].
Jesus, like Isaiah, is sent to announce God’s message of mercy and justice, and peoples’ responses to Him will reveal their hearts, whether open or closed to God.
And now, like Jesus, like Isaiah, we are also being sent.
We have been forgiven, we have experienced God’s amazing grace.
Now God is looking to us to go and speak for Him, to let others know Who He is, how He loves us and will forgive us.
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!” [Isaiah 6:8]
Jesus answered the call, and so did Isaiah… will we?
“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” [John 20:21]
Having experienced God in His glory, as well as in His grace, He is calling us to go…
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

PRAYER:
Lord, I am not worthy to be Your spokesperson, but that is exactly why I should go. It is because of Your mercy and love that I speak, not because of my worthiness. Here I am, send me. Use me to call others back to You!