Seeds for 08/15/2024 - Yield - Isaiah 6:1-8
In this series on prayer and scripture, we are following the acronym P.R.A.Y. as a guide for prayer. We are considering scriptures throughout the Bible on each theme. My prayer is that studying scriptures on these themes will give us biblical words to use as our own and simple insights for our praying.
Scripture:
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above Him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 “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.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
8 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!”
Observation:
The story of Isaiah’s calling is one of the most prominent in the whole of scripture. It is a remarkable vision. Here are my observations about it when we consider Isaiah yielding to God in it.
First, Isaiah’s yielding is a response to an empowering encounter with God. Isaiah has a dream and a vivid vision of God’s holiness and greatness. This leads him to confession of sin and inadequacy. But this recognition and confession leads to an experience of atonement, forgiveness, restoration, and healing. All in all, this is a remarkable encounter with God. But it is part and parcel to our experience as Christian believers. An experience of God’s holiness and forgiveness is powerful and should inspire and response of availability to God.
Second, Isaiah’s yielding is expressed as volunteering to serve the Lord. The voice asks an open-ended question: “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Isaiah volunteers! “Here I am. Send me!” Yielding doesn’t have to be a weighty thing to submit to with a heavy heart. In Isaiah’s case, yielding was joyful availability to God because of what God has shown and done for him.
Application:
When have you joyfully volunteered to be in the Lord’s service?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, renew my vision for you—your holiness and your goodness. May I hear your invitation into your work in the world and response with joyful faith. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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