Hide the Word

This is a long one friends! I'm late in posting this one, so we'll have a few extra days to get this one done. But it will be well worth it, I promise!

Isaiah 6:1-5

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, 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."


This is one of my favorite passages of the Bible. It really reveals a lot about God's Holiness. And it revealed to me what it really means to fear God. God is holy and we are unworthy of His love. As Isaiah says he is a man of unclean lips. The Message sates it like this in verse 5:
I'm as good as dead!
Every word I've ever spoken is tainted—
blasphemous even!
And the people I live with talk the same way,
using words that corrupt and desecrate.
And here I've looked God in the face!

Can you imagine with me if you will, what it would be like to see the Lord seated high on His throne in all His splendor. Where the angels sing so loud and with such authority for Him that it shakes the very ground you stand on. Imagine with me also that like Isaiah, you begin to see your imperfections, your flaws, your sin just laid out before the Lord Almighty. Such an experience made Isaiah so ashamed that he could not even fathom that he was able to look God in the face. And he said he was as good as dead, or maybe in that moment, he just wanted to be.

I think all too often we either hide or even ignore our sin because we have forgotten that at all times it is laid out before our Holy God. We scramble desperately to hide or protect our sins from our family, our friends, and especially the people we worship next to every Sunday. I've even seen where some, are sometimes so quick to judge another's sin, just because it was made more public than the ones we have triumphantly managed to keep hidden.

I can remember a time when I would hear people talking about fearing God and that just did not make any sense to me. Why should I fear my loving Father? Forgive me for this analogy, but I think I almost pictured him as this Grand-pappy in heaven sitting on his porch in his rocking chair shaking His head about what stunt I had just pulled. But my friends, God is real! He is Holy! He does judge! And we are not worthy of His love. That's what makes His love so special! He chooses to give it to us anyway. Remember our verse from last week??This is love: Not that we love God; but that He loved us and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

The next few verses are my favorite in this book. As soon as those words of repentance left Isaiah's lips, he was cleansed by the angel with a live (hot) coal! And the Lord asks, "whom shall I send?" and Isaiah replies "Here am I. Send me!" The Lord then gave Isaiah a message for His people. Girl, that gives me goose bumps! That our Holy God still wants to fill us with a message! He can still use us if we are willing to come to repentance and be obedient to His call.

Think about God's Holiness this week as we learn these 5 verses. Begin to truly understand Who the God we serve really is. He calls Himself the Great I Am. Because He's holy, just, righteous, worthy. He takes care of all of our needs, He keeps all of His promises. He corrects, rebukes, satisfies our every longing. He's sovereign, He's all-knowing, He's all-powerful. Basically I AM (fill in the blank)...because He just IS! PRAISE THE LORD!