Kissing Coal

You know those moments when you read a part of the Bible you've read countless times before, but something clicks and it all makes sense like it never has in the past? I had one of those moments today.

I'm reading through Isaiah, and I got to the part where Isaiah is given a commission by God. I've heard the story before. God sends Isaiah to go to His people to tell them that they have been disobedient to the Lord, and that they will be destroyed. Some people listen and change their ways, but the nation, as a whole, does not.

I've always been stuck on the story of Isaiah warning a nation of what's to come, and completely missed some incredible imagery written to sanctify the reader.

Of course, we read the elaborate description of the seraphs (flying creatures with with six wings: two covering their face, two covering their feet, and two used for flying) who constantly cried out "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory." And, at the sound of their voices, the doorposts and the thresholds shook. I've always been baffled by these creatures. But, as I kept reading, I discovered even more beautifully scripted imagery.

In verse 5, Isaiah cries out, "Woe to me! 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." Then a seraph took a coal from the alter and flew to Isaiah. He then touched the coal to Isaiah's lips and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

What a beautiful picture of how God purifies us. The live burning coal symbolized fire's ability to refine and purify. Isaiah realized how unclean he was before the Lord, and submitted himself entirely to God's service. He was then told his sins were forgiven.

This picture is so encouraging for me. As an unclean, lust-filled, world-seeking man, I sometimes feel worthless to be given a task by the Lord. But when I confess the sins I daily fall into, He is constant in purifying me.

Purification can be painful. Before we accept God's call to speak for Him, we must be cleansed. We must be purified to truly represent our pure and holy Father.

Here's to a glance at a day in my life,
Derick