Wednesday, May 8, 2019
It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke. Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” 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.” Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” Isaiah 6:1-8
One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus. Luke 5:1-11
At the end
of the Old Testament, looking forward to the New Testament, God has Malachi reinforce
something about the way God deals with humans:
I am the Lord, and I do not change; Malachi 3:6a (CEB)
When God was
laying the groundwork in both Isaiah and Peter to prepare them to preach and
teach about Jehovah, so the world would know how to get back in relationship
with God, His method with the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, was no different
than when Jesus schooled Peter in the New Testament. The lesson is simple, albeit a little painful;
when you’re going to be used in God’s work you’d better get used to the idea of
being humbled!
Over and
over in Scripture we are informed how much God detests pride. When God is going to use someone, that person’s
pride, that entry portal to the spread of all sin, is going to be touched by
fire, and brought low with the majesty of the Almighty!
There are
no exceptions to this!
For You Today
What’s good for the prophet or preacher is fair game for the pew. God destroys pride wherever He finds it. That is why the prophets and preachers of the
Old and New Testaments pointed to the cornerstone[iii]
as either a building block, or that which would crush. It’s simple; if you won’t be humble enough to
be a building block in God’s kingdom, the cornerstone becomes a crushing
stone. One way or another we will be
made low. After all, He’s God…and we’re
not!
Go to VIDEO
[i] Title Image: V&A - Raphael, The Miraculous
Draught of Fishes (1515) Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
