Reading Isaiah 6

I did a daily devotional reading this morning. It was Isaiah 6 1-8 and I was struck by the fact that, in Isaiah's case, his cleansing was not without pain.

From Isaiah 6:5 (reading from The Message)"Every word I've ever spoken is tainted...blasphemous even! And the people I live with talk the same way, using words that corrupt and desecrate." One of the angels surrounding God on his throne approached Isaiah with a hot ember and touched his lips and said, "This coal has touched your lips. Gone is your guilt, your sins wiped out."

I think it's so easy to think that Jesus will wash away my sins and he'll take all the "damage" and pain. In Isaiah's case, he was one of God's chosen prophets and yet, his sanctification came with the pain of an ember on his lips.

At church yesterday, we heard from Tom in our Sunday School lesson and Derrick in the sermon in the morning that sin is not without its consequences. It's a lesson that we are told to teach our children and it's something that I'm so quick to dismiss and overlook. I need to remember that what I'm going through, the pain that I'm experiencing, is likely the consequences of my sin.

I'm so quick to judge and blame others for my pain, my discomfort, my disappointments. I need to remember that I am responsible for my sin and I am responsible for the consequences.

It's a hard lesson to learn.