Seeing the Lord and listening to the praise of the angels, Isaiah realized that he was unclean before God, with no hope of measuring up to God’s standard of holiness. When Isaiah’s lips were touched with a lump of living burning coal. However, he was told that his sins were forgiven. It wasn’t the coal that cleansed him but God. In response, Isaiah submitted himself entirely to God’s service. No matter how difficult his task would be, he said, Here am I. Send me!.
The painful cleansing process was necessary before Isaiah could fulfill the task to which God was calling him. Before we accept God’s call to speak for him to those around us, we must be cleansed as Isaiah was, confessing our sins and submitting to God’s control. Letting God purify us may be painful, but we must be purified so that we can truly represent God who is pure and holy.