Isaiah 6:5-7

[Isaiah] said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man…” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

You may have had the experience of cleaning a window with great care. The last smudge has been removed and you are convinced that you’ve done an excellent job, and then you sit down and see the sunlight streaming in and you cannot believe how dirty and smudgy it still looks! That was Isaiah’s experience in these verses. He came into the presence of a holy God and the brilliant light of God’s presence shone on the inadequacies and failings of his life. He felt doomed. His predicament seemed completely hopeless, but it wasn’t.

God did for Isaiah what Isaiah could never have done for himself. He forgave him. Isaiah recognised that he had filthy lips and lived among a people with filthy lips, so the seraphim touched his lips with a burning coal from the altar. His guilt was removed and his sins were forgiven. His life was transformed from one of hopelessness and defeat to one in which he would be able to carry God’s word to his people.

Forgiveness was the turning point in Isaiah’s life, and that is the experience of every Christian. Until we come to that point of recognising our sin and seeking God’s forgiveness, we will inevitably be weighed down by our sin and guilt. Only God can set us free, and he does so by totally removing our sins from us. David described the experience in this way: “He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12).

Question

How has God’s gift of forgiveness affected your life?

Prayer

Holy God, I worship you and praise you for your love for me. I recognise my need of your forgiveness, and thank you for your willingness to set me free from my sin. Amen