The Power Of Pardon
Good morning Immanuel. The Christian life flows from the reality and realization of the pardon we have in Jesus!
“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” (Isaiah 6:6-8)
Many things can motivate our service to Jesus. Typical examples are guilt, a sense of duty, peer pressure, insecurity, or pity for others. Sometimes a few of these motivations work together to form a cocktail of reasons that fuel our service. The problem is that these forms of motivation rob us of the joy of the Lord, which is our strength. Trying to live the Christian life on the fuel of guilt is tiresome. Pity for others only gets us so far. Duty is not bad, but it’s not the deepest reality of service for Jesus. We all struggle with motivation and energy in the Christian life, which makes this section of Isaiah 6 so helpful. When the voice of the Lord calls out to inquire, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah eagerly responds, “Here I am! Send me.” Ok, so Isaiah is eager to serve. But what motivated him? Notice the encounter that proceeds his zeal— his guilt was taken away, and his sins were atoned for! Isaiah stood in the presence of the Lord and lived. He saw the glory of Jesus, and it was the glory of heavenly eagerness to cleanse and pardon! The wonder of God’s zeal to pardon us fuels our zeal to live for him. We will never be so properly motivated to serve Jesus as we are certain of His pardon for us. Let’s soak that in today, Immanuel. In Christ, your guilt is taken away, and your sins atoned for. Go in peace!
So helpful, thank you Tony