Wednesday, January 25, 2022

Listen to the Word

“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.” 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 6:5-7)

Yesterday we saw that the first words of the worshipper are “I’m amazed!” The second words of the worshipper are “I’m sorry.” Confessing our sin and receiving God’s forgiveness are ingredients of true worship. When God shows us who he is, we realize who we are. Worship includes a healthy sense of being embarrassed - an awareness that we don’t deserve to be there with him. Isaiah doesn’t put on a holy show of pretend purity. He is honest about his uncleanness. Remarkably, God doesn’t use the seraph as a bouncer to throw Isaiah out of the building. He doesn’t use the coal to set him on fire. God gives Isaiah the forgiveness and cleansing he needs.

Live the Word

Write down a sin you are ready to confess to God. Then tear it up, run it through a paper shredder, or crumple it and throw it away. Ask God to take that sin away for good.