BIBLE LESSON

“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

The highest angels flying above God’s throne were the seraphim. They covered their eyes and their feet with their wings, because they knew they were unworthy to proclaim the glory, holiness, and magnificence of the LORD. They had never sinned; they were morally and spiritually pure, but they acknowledged the fact before all creation that they were undeserving to see or serve God. Only God’s love and grace gave them the honor and enabled them to proclaim to one another for all to hear, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3). When Isaiah saw the LORD high and exalted and seated on a throne, he 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). When Isaiah saw God’s glory, he knew immediately that he had sinned against God and thought God had come to condemn him. Graciously, God had not come to condemn but to save him from his sins and empower him to serve Him. With the cleansing fire of God, God atoned or compensated for Isaiah’s sins, which pointed to what God wants to do for all who place their faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ, who by dying on the cross graciously compensated for our sins and made God’s just forgiveness possible. When God asked for someone to serve Him, Isaiah immediately responded, “Send me!” Indeed, all those God makes clean want to serve Him.