NEW YEAR, NEW LIFE - Answering God's Call

Today’s reading in Oswald Chamber’s devotional, “My Utmost for His Highest”, comes from the book of Isaiah and is one of my favorite passages.  It describes a vision given by God to Isaiah in which Isaiah sees the Lord high and lifted up, and himself thoroughly sinful in comparison.  What follows Isaiah’s cleansing is a call, issued by God, and answered by Isaiah.

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.  Above Him were seraphs, each with six wings:  With two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.  And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;

The whole earth is full of His glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

“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.”

Then one of the seraphs flew tome 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.”

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 6:1-8

Oswald Chambers speaks about God’s call in this way:

“When we talk about the call of God, we often forget the most important thing, namely, the nature of Him who calls.  There are many things calling each of us today.”

What are some of the things calling to YOU today?

Is it your job?  Your children?  An aging parent?  A hobby?  A house that needs cleaning?  A telephone call that needs to be made?  TV?  Your fears about the future?  Thoughts of vacation, escape, a new husband/wife, house, place to live – anything that will get you away from where you are?  

What about the call of God on your life? Where is that in relation to other calls?

 Oswald goes on to say:

“The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not ours.  God providentially weaves the threads of His call through our lives, and only we can distinguish them.  It is the threading of God’s voice directly to us over a certain concern.”

This is what happens I believe when we “Delight ourselves in the Lord”, as David says in Psalm 37:4 so that the Lord can, “give you the desires of your heart”.  

Chambers says, the Lord then “weaves the threads of His call through our lives – over a certain concern - and only we can distinguish (the threads).”  

He goes on to say:

“The call of God is not a reflection of my nature; my personal desires and temperament are of no consideration.  As long as I dwell on my own qualities and traits and think about what I am suited for, I will never hear the call of God.  But when God brings me into the right relationship with Himself, I will be in the same condition Isaiah was.  

Isaiah was so attuned to God, because of the great crisis he had just endured that the call of God penetrated his soul.  The majority of us cannot hear anything but ourselves.  We cannot hear anything God says.  But to be brought to the place where we can hear the call of God is to be profoundly changed.”

Isaiah could hear the Lord because he was in the right place to hear Him.  He recognized the greatness and holiness of God, and his own sinful nature (I’m a man of unclean lips!) by comparison and graciously the Lord forgave and cleansed him.  Then, he was in the place where he could hear God’s voice.

Is that where you are?  

What is your view of God?  Is He “the man upstairs”, maybe just a celestial Santa Claus?  Would you use the words, “in awe”, “respectful”, “worshipful” to describe your view of Him?  

Psalm 145 is my favorite psalm for a panoramic view of the greatness of God.  These are some of the words and phrases David uses to describe Him:

The King

Great, worthy of praise

His greatness no one can fathom

Majestic

Powerful

Awesome

Good

Gracious

Slow to anger

Rich in love

Glorious

Mighty

Everlasting

Holy

He hears and saves

Destroyer of the wicked

Provider

Is this the way you would describe the Lord?

Isaiah would have.  

When Isaiah saw the Lord, he couldn’t help but see himself as well.

How would you describe yourself?  A pretty good person, better than most, not as bad as some others you could name, in need of a little "work"?

Would you like to know how God describes us humans?

The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 3:10-18.  Be warned! It’s not a pretty picture!

“There is no one righteous, not even one (that means YOU, and ME);  There is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.

All have turned away, they have together become worthless (not only individually, but collectively, this is true).  There is no one who does good, not even one.

Their throats are open graves, their tongues practice deceit.  The poison of vipers is on their lips.  Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.  Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.  There is no fear of God in their eyes.”

Compared to the holiness of God, this is where we stand.  Without a prayer, without excuse, without a leg to stand on, without hope.

When Isaiah saw himself in the light of the Lord’s holiness, he recognized his own sinfulness and need for cleansing and the Lord provided it so that Isaiah was able to be in a right relationship with Him.

If you desire to begin this New Year on adventure with God, then you must first be in the “right place” to hear His call.  You must be in a right relationship with Him and the only way to experience that is through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ.  It is only when we depend on the work of Jesus on the cross to have paid the penalty for our sin, that we can be declared “right” with a holy God.  It's only the "rightness" that He credits to our account when we have believed, that we can draw near to a holy God.

 

You and I have many calls tugging at us every day, and many we can’t deny.  We have jobs, children to care for, food to prepare, houses to clean and other perfectly good and necessary things to occupy our thoughts and time.  Others we can let slide, for another hour, for another day, for another time.  Maybe some we could forego altogether and never miss.  

But the call of God to be in a right relationship with Him through faith in Jesus is one that shouldn’t be put off for another day.  That is a call that demands an answer, NOW.  It’s a call that, once answered, will profoundly change you.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to wake up tomorrow knowing that your guilt for the things you've done wrong has been taken care of by Jesus?  Wouldn't it be wonderful to know that you belong to Jesus with a greater intimacy than you have with your closest friends?  God will begin the lifelong process of making you more like Jesus and you will enjoy a relationship with Him you never dreamed possible.

Once we have responded to that call, another awaits us.  It’s the call of God that asks, “Who will go?”  That call represents the heart of God that weaves His passions and His concerns through your heart, creating in you a desire to join Him in some work of His in the world around you to influence people and the world around you for Him.  That call is the doorway to some of the most amazing adventures with God that you will EVER experience!  

What would it take for you hear the call of God?

If you have never heard the call to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ – God’s Son - who gave His own life for yours, taking the penalty for your sin on the cross, so that you could be cleansed and be made right with Him, so that you could know Him personally – then THIS IS that call!  How will you respond?

If you long ago answered God’s call to put your faith in Jesus – then ARE YOU DELIGHTING in the Lord, so that when He issues a call for you to join Him in some adventure, you'll  be able to hear Him?

And what will be your answer?  Will you be like Isaiah and say, “Here I am Lord, send me?”  

I can tell you from personal, firsthand experience – there are many decisions we might look back on in life that we sorely regret – but the decision to put our faith in Jesus and to follow where He leads us, will never be one of them.   

God is calling YOU.  What’s holding you back?   Answer the call.