“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.” Isaiah 6:5
In a vision too big to imagine, Isaiah saw the LORD, His greatness and His glory (Isaiah 6:1-4). Seraphs declared the brilliance of His holiness, and as they did, their voices shook the place. It shook Isaiah. He cried, “Woe to me!” (Isaiah 6:5)
In the presence of God’s glory and holiness, the message of judgment for the sins of Israel and Judah hit home. This was no longer a finger pointing blame game like we read in Isaiah chapter 5: woe to the greedy (v. 8), woe to the drunks (vs. 11, 22), woe to those who cling to sin (v. 18-19), woe to the deceitful (v. 20), and woe to the proud (v. 21). In the presence of the One who is wholly holy, Isaiah saw his sin and his need for a Savior.
Before seeing the Lord, he was a prophet, but it wasn’t personal. He transferred the message, but wasn’t transformed by it. He conveyed the message, wasn’t changed by it.
Until he saw the Lord.
In His grace and mercy God responded to Isaiah’s desperate cry. Then one of the seraphim 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” (v. 6-7). Isaiah was forgiven, delivered, and set free. The Message changed him!
At the dawn of a new GEMS season, before we bring the Message to the girls, their families, and the world, we must get personal. Do you keenly and personally understand that you are a sinner desperate for a Savior? Do you have a lively sense of how horribly offensive your sin is to God –woe to me! Are you forgiven, delivered, and set free in Christ? Has the Message changed you?
Jesus is the Message! He is the Good News for your club and community! He is the message to a dying world that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). He is the Message for you.
Send Me: Do you know Jesus? If so, tell someone how He’s changed you. If not, accept His invitation to come to Him today (John 14:6).
