August 15

In Isaiah 4–6, we see a picture of both God’s holiness and His refining grace. Isaiah 4 promises that God will cleanse His people and dwell among them, but Isaiah 5 warns that pride, greed, and injustice will lead to judgment. Then, in chapter 6, Isaiah has a life-changing encounter:

“I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of His robe filled the temple.” (Isaiah 6:1)

Faced with the holiness of God, Isaiah cries out, “Woe to me! I am ruined!” He recognizes his own unclean heart. But God doesn’t leave him there. One of the seraphim touches his lips with a coal from the altar and says, “Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6:7)

Only after this cleansing does Isaiah hear God’s call:
“Whom shall I send?”
And he responds, “Here am I. Send me!”

God’s call is always preceded by His cleansing. His holiness humbles us, His grace restores us, and then He sends us into a world in need.

In Matthew 23, Jesus delivers a series of woes to the Pharisees. Like Isaiah’s audience, they had the outward appearance of devotion but were inwardly corrupt. Jesus compares them to whitewashed tombs—clean on the outside, dead on the inside. He warns them (and us) that God desires authenticity, humility, and justice, not empty religion.

These passages call us to a deeper faith:

• To see God as He truly is—holy, exalted, and merciful.
• To allow Him to cleanse us from the inside out.
• To respond with surrender, ready to be sent wherever He leads.

Holiness is not about performance; it’s about transformation.

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