Devotional: Before sending Isaiah forth as his prophet...

Before sending Isaiah forth as his prophet, God showed him his glory. Exposed to that radiance Isaiah could only cry out in dismay, "Woe is me!" Prior to seeing the Lord, his lips were already unclean and he had already been dwelling in the midst of a people of unclean lips; yet he was unaware of all this...until that light shone down on him and he saw his actual state and theirs.

How could he now become God's mouthpiece, since his own lips were so defiled? The one thing that made it possible was his response in the face of God's holiness-this cry of "Woe!" Given such self-knowledge, he was ready for the seraph to come from the altar and cleanse his lips. Let us, then, keep the sequence in view, for it is a good one: first the uncleanness, then God's light, followed by the cry of self-knowledge, then the touch of cleansing, and finally the commission to go and serve. ...Watchman Nee image