A Clean Heart Ready to Serve

"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."
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
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 was dreaming, he was having a vision, God was appearing to him in his mind.

Being willing is important. Being ready is more important. Being ready doesn’t just mean having your stuff packed or having thought about it enough that you’re mentally and emotionally prepared. It means being spiritually available.

When we do things that we know make God unhappy, that miss the mark, when we have sin in our life, we’re unavailable. We have chosen ourselves over God. This was the original sin and it is every sin. It’s when we decide that our way is more attractive than the High way. Or more fun. Or just more desirable.

Unfortunately, that puts a block between us and our Lord. It shuts down the ears and eyes of our heart so that we have trouble hearing our Savior talking to us. The still small voice gets drowned out in a sea of me. My self and my selfishness and even my shame at my nakedness become louder and overwhelm any sense of Godliness.

That’s when the enemy continues his lies. You’re not a saint, you’re a sinner. You have no control over your own desires. You can’t even be a beginner child of God. How can you stand there in the face of God when you are who you are and you have done what you have done?

But God offers cleansing through the blood of Jesus Christ to all who confess their sins and accept his Son. After that, the heart is clear and the mission is clear. You’re available. Go.

But even at this point God asks. Isaiah doesn’t hear a stern command to go. Instead, the gentle voice of the Lord is seeking the heart of the clean, looking for the redeemed to be the grateful. Trying to find the gratitude that gets transformed into service. Sweeping the earth for those who will with clean lips and clean hearts say, “Here am I. Send me!”