Here I am, Lord, Send Me

Isaiah 6:1-5 ESV

 

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

 

“’Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!’

 

“And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’”

 

Is this your picture of God? Do you see him as the holy God that he is in all his glory? Do you see him as someone who is to be worshiped above all else? And what is your view of yourself when you view the absolute and total holiness of Almighty God? Are you humbled to even be in his presence, if indeed you are in his presence? Do you know that this awe (fear) of God seems all but lost in today’s modern church?

 

Not too many people these days, it would appear, are teaching God in this way. One of the latest things I have heard that appalls me is this idea that God in heaven is just so enamored with us humans that he just wants to hang out with us, and so all we have to do is just accept his affection for us and we are now in his good graces. They lower God/Jesus to be more like us humans and as though God is lucky if we should choose to give him the time of day.

 

Now not all have gone to that extreme, but many are teaching God more as a doting grandfather in the sky there to grant our every desire, but who makes absolutely no requirements of us. And they call that “grace.” They picture God as someone who has offered up his Son on that cross for us so that we will now be forgiven all our sins and so we will have the guarantee of heaven when we die, but they say he makes no requirements of us – not for repentance, not for submission to him, and not for obedience to his commands.

 

And so many are holding on to a faith which professes Jesus as Lord but which does not make him truly Lord. Many people feel that they said the right words and so now they are in, done deal, and now when they die they get to go to heaven, because they “believed” (undefined) in Jesus once in their lives. But so many are not being taught that God Almighty absolutely makes demands of us who say we are Christ’s followers. It is all over the New Testament. We must die with Christ to sin and we must now follow Jesus in obedience to his commands, and we must no longer live in sin.

 

If all people who make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ had this view of God presented here in Isaiah 6 it would rock the church of today, and people would be dropping to their knees in genuine repentance and acknowledgment of their sins, and their hearts’ desire would now be for the Lord and not for themselves, to follow him in obedience, and to worship him as the holy God that he is, and revival would break out in the church. Amen!

 

Isaiah 6:6-7 ESV

 

“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’”

 

When we come to the Lord with the proper awe (fear) of him, and we humble ourselves before him, contrite in spirit, in true repentance, he forgives us our sins and he gives us new lives in him to be lived for his purposes and for his glory. But then the Scriptures teach that we must continue in him steadfast in faith, and that we must forsake our sins to follow him in obedience to his ways. For if we don’t, but we go right back to living like we did before, and we don’t repent, the Scriptures teach that we will not inherit eternal life with God. So we need to take this seriously.

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Pet 1:17-21; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

Isaiah 6:8 ESV

 

“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’”

 

Now Jesus does not save us from our sins just so we can go on living however we want. If our faith is genuine, we died with Christ to sin, and we were raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Our old lives of living in sin and for self were put to death with him so that we will no longer be enslaved to sin but so we will live as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Jesus bought us back for God with his blood so we would now be the Lord’s possession and so we will now honor God with our lives. So our lives are no longer our own to be lived however we want. Now we are to live for the Lord.

 

So, we don’t hold on to our lives, for if we do we will lose them for eternity. But now we recognize that our lives belong to God. And so when the Lord calls and he says that he wants us to go here or there and say this or that, then that is what we must do. And the Scriptures give us plenty of direction in how we are to live and what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ, and they all paint for us lives which are surrendered to Jesus Christ to doing his will for our lives. So, this is what it should look like if we are true believers in Jesus Christ. We should say, “Here I am! Send me!”

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

The Prayer

 

Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,

Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

 

I pray you'll be our eyes

And watch us where we go

And help us to be wise

In times when we don't know

 

Let this be our prayer

When we lose our way

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

I pray we'll find your light

And hold it in our hearts

When the stars go out each night

Remind us where you are.

 

Let this be our prayer

When shadows fill our day

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqFCbtRz1Z0

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P.S. This is not an endorsement of the singers other than as musicians