My plan for the next 3 weeks is to share some thoughts that stand out from my local / global church's annual fast and prayer. This year's theme is Set Apart and runs from 8 Jan 2024 - 28 Jan 2024. (in the interest of full disclosure, I am breastfeeding so my participation is adjusted for that)
Today's (Monday 8 Jan) reading included Isaiah 6:1 - 7, which goes,
(ESV version)
[1] In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. [2] Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. [3] And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" [4] And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. [5] And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!" [6] Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. [7] And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for." https://bible.com/bible/59/isa.6.1.ESV
and 1 Peter 1:13-16, the NLT version reads
[13] So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. [14] So you must live as God's obedient children. Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn't know any better then. [15] But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. [16] For the Scriptures say, "You must be holy because I am holy."https://bible.com/bible/116/1pe.1.13.NLT
The seraphim in the Isaiah verses are calling to each other, telling each other about the holiness of God, they were telling each other to see the holiness of God. And their calling out is causing
- the others to see the holiness of God, and
- Isaiah to see his wickedness. He was able to see how far he was from holiness, thus allowing him to receive ministry from the seraphim as they touched his lips with the coal thus purifying him.
The 1 Peter verses show us that the requirement of Christianity isn't doing mostly good or doing better than the next person. The requirement is holiness. And not just holiness, holiness just as God is holy. And if we are honest with ourselves we know that we don't meet this impossible standard. Only Jesus does and has met this requirement.
We thank God that Jesus has met the requirements and has made it possible for us to be qualified based on His perfect report card, and by accepting His perfect report card as our own, we enter into a process of Him working in us to make us worthy of the perfect mark we receive on His report card (salvation). We receive purification not just of our lips like Isaiah but of our whole lives and selves through and through
