Today’s Text: Isaiah 6:5-7
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for 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 burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he
touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is
taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Words of Devotion
Isaiah witnessed the amazing
reality of what goes on around Jesus every minute of every day: blazing angels
covering their faces and feet in reverence and calling out in worship. This
encounter had a profound affect on him and urged his response,
“Woe is me! For I am lost;
for 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!”
Isaiah responded in
humility, realizing his utter lostness, his sin separating him from the pure
holiness he stood before. But Isaiah didn’t only admit his guilt, but that of
his entire nation. He admitted that compared to Jesus he was not worthy. Jesus
didn’t banish Isaiah from His presence, or command him to clean up and come
back when he was a better man. However Jesus was moved with compassion from the
throne to cleanse and purify Isaiah, which prefigured what Jesus would do for
us. Like that “burning coal” Jesus descended from His place of authority
and power and let Himself become powerless, even to the point of death (Philippians 2:8).
Jesus lived as a man just
like Isaiah, just like any of us. He was surrounded by the same temptation and
sin yet, unlike Isaiah and us, he remained perfect. Through His sacrifice on
the cross He paid the penalty for sin, and through His spilled blood we are
cleansed. As with Isaiah’s lips, “[our] guilt is taken away, and [our] sin
atoned for.”
Are you like Isaiah who responded
to Jesus’ divinity humbly and thankfully accepted His sacrifice?
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