Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?” . . . I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8
When Swedish missionary Eric Lund felt called by God to go to Spain to do mission work in the late 1890s, he immediately obeyed. He saw little success there, but persevered in his conviction of God’s calling. One day, he met a Filipino man, Braulio Manikan, and shared the gospel with him. Together, Lund and Manikan translated the Bible into a local Philippine language, and later they started the first Baptist mission station in the Philippines. Many would turn to Jesus—all because Lund, like the prophet Isaiah, responded to God’s call.
In Isaiah 6:8, God asked for a willing person to go to Israel to declare His judgment for the present and hope for the future. Isaiah volunteered boldly: “Here am I. Send me!” He didn’t think he was qualified, for he’d confessed earlier: “I am a man of unclean lips” (v. 5). But he responded willingly because he’d witnessed God’s holiness, recognized his own sinfulness, and received His cleansing (vv. 1–7).
Is God calling you to do something for Him? Are you holding back? If so, remember all God has done through Jesus’ death and resurrection. He’s given us the Holy Spirit to help and guide us (John 14:26; 15:26–27), and He’ll prepare us to answer His call. Like Isaiah, may we respond, “Send me!”
Read: Isaiah 6:1–8 (NIV)
Isaiah’s Commission
6 1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 “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.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
8 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!”
INSIGHT
- Is God calling you to do something for Him?
- What’s hindering you from responding?
Isaiah 6:1–13 tells of the call of Isaiah to a long and difficult prophetic ministry (740–685 bc). Isaiah, whose name means “Yahweh saves,” prophesied to the Southern Kingdom of Judah through the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham (both godly kings), Ahaz (one of Judah’s worst kings), and Hezekiah (a king committed to reforms) over some fifty-five years (Isaiah 1:1). He was a contemporary of the prophets Hosea, Amos, and Micah. Assyria was the superpower at this time, threatening to invade Israel and Judah. According to tradition, Isaiah was related to Uzziah, explaining his easy access to the royal courts (7:3; 38:1; 39:3), and he suffered martyrdom when he was sawn in two by King Manasseh (possibly referred to in Hebrews 11:37). Besides this book of prophecies, Isaiah also wrote the biographies of King Uzziah and King Hezekiah (see 2 Chronicles 26:22; 32:32). Both books are no longer in existence.
PRAYER
Jesus, thank You for calling and enabling me to serve You. Help me to see this as a privilege and to serve You willingly. In Your holy and Precious name, I pray. Amen!!
Read: Isaiah 6:1–8 (NIV) | Bible in a Year: Proverbs 3–5; 2 Corinthians 1
