Week 5 Devotion by Jennifer Morris
Isaiah 6:6-8
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from the alter. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” 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!”
In the center of the word forgiveness, another word is hidden. The word give is neatly tucked into the middle of forgiveness because forgiveness is a gift. It has to be handed over like a gift with nothing expected in return. In its pure form, the gift isn’t earned or deserved but it is given anyway. Earlier in Chapter 6, Isaiah had been confronted with his sin. He had declared he was a man of unclean lips. As he was feeling pretty destitute and hopeless, the seraphim takes a coal from the throne of God and touches it to his lips in a gift of forgiveness. With one touch of the hot coal to Isaiah’s lips, his guilt is taken away and his sin is forgiven.
Before Isaiah even had time to grasp what had happened he hears the voice of the Master, the one who had just handed him the gift of forgiveness. The Lord says to him, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”. There is no pause here in the scripture. There is no indication that Isaiah argued with God or looked around to see who else was listening. We see quick obedience and desire to serve. Isaiah had just experienced God’s gift of forgiveness and as a result, when God called him to step up Isaiah was ready for the task. Isaiah’s reply was. “Here I am Lord, send me!”
If you are a believer in Jesus and have received His gift of forgiveness, God is asking you the same questions, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”. Will you remember the free gift of forgiveness God has given you and like Isaiah say, “Send me, Lord!”
If it has been anything like mine, your week has been full of emotions. There have been the encouraging times of a slower pace and time to catch your breath. There have been the down times of thinking of the suffering and sickness of our broken world. As you approach a new week, remember God’s gift of forgiveness to you. Determine in your heart that you will respond to the gift of forgiveness Jesus gave us through His death on the cross. God’s request of “Who will go for me?”, may come in the form of a neighbor that needs groceries, a friend that needs a listening ear or a child that needs some extra with you. Whatever God puts before you this week, respond as Isaiah did and go without hesitation. The gift of forgiveness we have from Jesus should compel us to good works for the Kingdom. And we all know we need some good in this broken mess.
This week your fast will be sleep. This is obviously not a total fast. Sleep restores our body and keeps it healthy. The challenge for this week is to get up a little earlier with the intention of spending time with God in His word. If you are already an early riser, it might mean you stay up a little later and dedicate that time to God. In either case, try to make God’s word the first thing you engage with every morning and the last thing on your mind at night. Ignore the notifications, news and social media and turn your attention to God at the beginning of your day and at the end of your day. Consider giving up 30 minutes or an hour of sleep and trading it for time with God.