By David ReayTuesday 1 Jul 2014LifeWords DevotionalsCultureReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Read Isaiah 6:1-5
1 In the year that King Uzzi′ah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne,high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. 2 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. 3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy,holy,holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called,and the house was filled with smoke. 5 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!” (ESV)
Isaiah didn’t see God as a pleasant pal with whom to spend a few idle hours. He wasn’t his best mate. God was utterly different,not at all an easy-going meal companion. And yet,this God revealed himself to a mere mortal. And as we know,as Isaiah did not,he once became mortal. This awesome and holy God is a God who reaches out to a less-than-awesome and quite-unholy humanity.
It is right and proper for us to enter God’s presence with reverence and humility. It is also right and proper for us to recognise God wants to meet with us. So we come in penitence but also in trust. We come as we are without pretence,for we know that Jesus makes it possible.
When we come to God,we come stripped of any claim to respectability or any reliance on our own relative goodness. We are defenceless and vulnerable before him,utterly dependent on his grace. We can make no demands that he favour us,yet we believe that through Jesus he does favour us.
We can only come to him in our moral nakedness. Such nakedness is the prerequisite for being clothed with the righteousness of Jesus. Only by putting aside our own merit are we able to truly rely on the merits of Jesus. Only by confessing our helplessness do we receive help.
Blessings
David Reay