Coal on My Lips

You would think that I've learned by now.

Even as the words left my lips, I wanted to take them back.

It doesn't even matter what it was that I said; to everyone else, it sounded like small talk. But beneath the words bubbled malicious intent that made my tone and smile all the more saccharine.

That very night, we studied Isaiah. And I felt the full weight of my sin.

“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 NIV)

I would have been crushed; my sin seemed so small, but it was big enough to kill me.

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6:6-7)

Oh happy day!! Despite my constant failure, I never taste the true consequence of my actions! I don't know what kind of person I would be without the redeeming love of Christ...cynical, bitter, hopeless. I would have to live daily under the crushing weight of my sin.

 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!” (Isaiah 6:8)

There is no other response but this one.