"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."
Isaiah 6:5
And to add a little more flavor to it, just for fun, I'll reference a song from Downhere called "Last Night's Daydream" in saying:
"From my sleep tonight, I woke to a frightening sight. All the best of me, held up to Your perfect light."
The bear and the power of the bear induces the fear of harm. But wounds heal, and we move forward. People have survived bear attacks, after all, and they really aren't that common. But when was the last time you looked into the mirror and compared your own sinfulness to God's holiness? When was the last time you listened to a piece of music in church that just broke you down in the realization that we are so unworthy of the gift we have been blessed to receive? When was the last time you admitted to yourself that you are nothing without the Lord?
In each of these moments, one of which I had two days ago while listening to another song by the same band, the Spirit comes close and brings about conviction. The Spirit reminds us that we really do NEED God and His grace to wash over us, because we were never, ever, ever going to be capable of maintaining the law given through Moses. Human beings just cannot do it. We are not able to remain that focused for any sustained period of time, because of the nature into which we are born, which is sin. Yeah, I said it... the "s" word that people today don't like to hear... but it is a part of us from conception (Psalm 51:5)... SIN!
When we confront it, or when we see the Lord in a tangible way in our lives and His light shines upon our sin for us to see, we are forced to fall to the ground in understanding of who and what we really are at the core, begging for reprieve. Isaiah did just that. He saw the Lord, and then Isaiah realized how unworthy he was to see such sights! He expected to die from the sight, just as I would. It's too pure and too holy and too good for us to comprehend in this fleshly, sinful form.
But - pay attention to this - we have a different method of confronting it than Isaiah and his contemporaries did. We have Christ (Romans 8:1)! When we face the sin in our lives, we do so with the full power of Heaven beside us (Psalm 91:11), and we can overcome (1 Corinthians 10:13). We are made new (2 Corinthians 5:17), and the world and its trappings no longer have eternal grasp upon us (Galatians 2:20).
Pray with me today, friends, about what you would do if faced directly with the Lord, and asked to come to terms with who and what you really are. Our imperfections are glaringly obvious when held up to Him... but...
"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me."
2 Corinthians 12:9
Pray for the understanding that comes from knowing that God's grace rests upon you. Be mindful and reverent as you do so, knowing to Whom it is you speak, and honor the Lord in doing so!
God bless you all!!!
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