Would you dare glimpse what Isaiah saw? He had a vision of “the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne,” surrounded by angels calling to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” In awe, Isaiah could only cry out, “Woe to me! . . . I am ruined!”

Isaiah’s life-changing vision pointed ahead to the coming of the Savior. An angel touched a coal to Isaiah’s lips, announcing, “Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for”—a powerful yet painful prophecy of the coming Savior’s work. So began Isaiah’s series of revelations of the coming Savior (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; 11:1-10 . . .).

God commissioned Isaiah with two simple questions: “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Later the resurrected Christ would commission his followers: “Go and make disciples of all nations. . . . And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

The Lord’s command and com­­fort apply to every generation of believers. Will we bear the good news of Jesus in our hearts and on our lips? Will we go today into our work, our studies, our neighborhoods, and our social engagements with Isaiah’s vision of God’s redemption?

“Whom shall I send?” he asks. Will we say, “Send me”?