“Compared to What?”

Isaiah 6:1-7

“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!”

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.”

In today’s scripture we find Isaiah having an encounter with the Lord Himself. Now Isaiah was a righteous, godly man by outward appearance. But when he saw the glory of the Lord, the Lord of hosts, he saw how sinful and broken he was. He even calls himself broken, or undone in other translations. The more clearly he saw the Lord, the more his own sinfulness was magnified.

There are times in my life when I feel like I am “on a roll” as a Christian. When my church attendance has been solid, when I’ve read my Bible so many consecutive days in a row, or maybe even help out a homeless guy by feeding him and sharing the gospel. While all of these things are all part of a Christian walk, I start to feel prideful of my faith and maybe even think I’m doing better than a lot of other Christians. The awareness of my own sin and brokenness fade away into the background. In times like this I take a step back and meditate on the glory and perfection of our Lord. No amount of good works or “correct Christian behavior” can compare to the holiness and glory of God. When you take a diamond that may look flawless on the outside and lay it against a perfectly black background and have the right light upon it, you see every flaw and imperfection that was invisible before.
I challenge you today to stop and really meditate on the awesomeness of God. We were made to glorify Him in everything we do, and it starts with realizing how broken we are and how perfect He is.

Consider using the HEAR method while spending time with the passage above. 

Highlight – what words or phrases jump out at you?
Explain – what does the passage mean?
Apply – how does the passage intersect with your life today?
Respond – how is God leading you to respond?

Brice Alumbaugh

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