“So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.” Romans 9:16
If I have not been made for service, in other words, to glorify God by sharing the good news, then I have been made in vain. “For you were called to freedom brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13) So, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8)
Isaiah’s heart was ready to serve, but his message was difficult. He had to go and tell the people that they would not be able to receive the blessing of the Lord until all Israel was desolate and forgotten. Then, there would be nothing left but the holy seed of God which would live on through the line of king David and would one day take on His own flesh as an Israelite to deliver His people. Isaiah lived 800 years before Christ’s birth. He did not live to see the people delivered from their sins. Furthermore, the people did not want to hear what he had to say. As the Lord spoke to Isaiah in chapter 6, “Render the hearts of this people insensitive…” (v. 10) The people were physically and spiritually unable to receive the message of repentance because the Lord declared that they would have insensitive hearts, or, literally, “fat” hearts.
Our message tells the people of this age that they are not unlike the Israelites of 2800 years ago. But the difference is for what purpose we share this news. We can boldly proclaim that God came to earth in the form of a human and limited Himself as a human and died a human’s death to take on our sin. And, the most glorious part of the story, that He defeated death by rising to life again. Now and forevermore, our Savior lives!
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