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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Isaiah 6:8

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

What a scene the opening verses of Isaiah, Chapter 6 pain for us. Isaiah looks and sees God on His throne in His fullest splendor and majesty, the angels hovering above Him and proclaiming His holiness and glory which fills the earth. The sight left Isaiah afraid for he knew at that moment that he was a sinner who lived amongst other sinners, unclean before a God who hated sin, a situation that would bring ruin on anyone.

But it was in the midst of Isaiah’s trepidation that the Lord God Almighty, the King of kings and Master over all things, showed another side of Himself. For although He was a God of judgment and had waged wrath against sinners and sinful cultures, He was also a God of mercy and grace and forgiveness. Instead of death, Isaiah received purification and atonement from his sins.

The outcome was as amazing as the onset.

So how would Isaiah respond to this gift of compassion and clemency from God?

The same way we all should, to serve the Lord in whatever way He sees fit to further His kingdom here on earth.

Look at these verses and the word of Isaiah, picking up after he finds himself purified:

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”  (v. 8)

The Lord was calling and indeed still calls today, looking for people who are willing to set themselves aside to go and follow Him, seeking and carrying out His will and way through each and every day He grants.

Isaiah was willing and ready, telling the Lord to look his way because he was ready to serve and offered the Lord to send him to do His kingdom work. This was a precursor to another calling, one initiated by God’s one and only Son, and our Savior, Jesus.

Jesus too was looking for people to serve and participate in His gospel ministry, people willing to sacrifice everything in order to follow Him and carry on His work after He departed, people who would answer His call like Isaiah saying, “Here I am. Send me!” He would find such people by the sea in the form of simple fishermen. Here is the story of that encounter:

Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.  Matthew 4:18-22 NKJV

Note in both these instances, Jesus called for people to follow Him and they responded, not with delay or deliberation, but rather they went immediately. There was much work to be done for the good of the kingdom, many men to be fished for, and the first disciples felt there was no more important place to be than with the Lord Jesus. They knew not where they were going or what they would encounter but that didn’t matter. Jesus called and they answered that call.

Friends, true followers of the Lord will be like Isaiah, Peter, Andrew, James, and John, ready to follow the Lord whenever He calls and go wherever He leads, ready to answer the question, “Whom shall I send?” with a resounding, “Send me Lord! Send me!”

Have you answered His call today?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com