Dare to Be an Isaiah

Daily Scripture Threshing for Today, Wednesday, September 16, 2026

Today's Text: Isaiah 6:1–13

Key Verse: Isaiah 6:8 (KJV) — "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me."

Wjen King Uzziah died and the throne of Judah shook and the nation reeled from the loss of a long-reigning monarch, powerful cautionary archetype of how pride and self reliance can destroy a person who starts out faithful and successful — Isaiah walked into the temple to mourn this loss and saw what no earthly court could contain: "the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple" (Isaiah 6:1). While his generation measured stability by the crown on a human head, Isaiah discovered that the true throne never empties. The King is still in Zion. The seraphim cried, "Holy, holy, holy," and the foundations trembled — the prophet himself trembled.

He did not strut into God's presence; he collapsed. "Woe is me!" he cried, "for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips" (Isaiah 6:5). Dare to be an Isaiah: dare to see God in His holiness before you ever attempt to serve Him in His name, and let the glory that breaks you be the same glory that sends you. But he did not stay broken — he let God cleanse him. A seraph flew with a live coal from the altar, touched his lips, and declared, "Thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged" (Isaiah 6:7). Isaiah did not earn the coal; he received it. He did not argue with grace; he surrendered to it.

Only cleansed lips carry holy words. Anf only purged ears receive the Voice: "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Isaiah did not ask for a salary, a safe city, or a guarantee of success. He answered with the only offering holiness can inspire — total availability: "Here am I; send me" (Isaiah 6:8). Dare to be an Isaiah: dare to let your availability outrun your explanation, to say yes to God before you know the cost, and to trust that the One who cleanses you will carry you through whatever He assigns. His assignment was not glamorous. God warned him the people would hear but not understand, see but not perceive — his ministry would confirm judgment more than convert crowds (Isaiah 6:9–10). Yet he obeyed across four reigns — Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (Isaiah 1:1)

Isaiah stood before trembling kings, confronting Ahaz's unbelief with the sign of Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14), urging Hezekiah to trust God when Sennacherib's army surrounded Jerusalem (Isaiah 37), even walking naked and barefoot for three years as a living warning against trusting Egypt (Isaiah 20:1–6). He did not shape his message to the mood of the palace; he carried God's word into every crisis. And beyond the judgment he proclaimed, he preserved the hope of a remnant and pointed to a coming Servant who would be "wounded for our transgressions" and "bruised for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:5). Dare to be an Isaiah: dare to be faithful when fruit is hidden, to speak truth to power without flinching, and to hold out hope even when your generation refuses to turn.

Therefore Scripture honors him not as a man of charisma but as a man of vision and obedience — one who saw the Lord, was cleansed by fire, and went wherever the Voice sent him. His "Here am I" was not a one-time whisper; it became a lifetime of costly, courageous witness. God is still asking the same question: "Whom shall I send?" The throne is still occupied, the altar still burns, the Voice still calls, but where are the Isaiahs of God. Dare to be an Isaiah for God in your age. Dare to see Him holy, dare to be cleansed, dare to be sent — what begins as your private surrender in the temple can carry God's Word into your family, your church, and your generation.

Action Steps: Identify one area where you have been silent when God has called you to speak. Confess any "unclean lips" — words of compromise, fear, or flattery — and receive His cleansing afresh today. Then answer the Voice with availability: say "Here am I; send me" in one concrete, costly act of obedience this week, and tell one witness what you have committed to do.

Quote for the Day: "A life which truly sees God's holiness cannot stay the same; cleansed lips carry courage, and a heart that answers 'Here am I' becomes God's voice to a silent generation." — (Simon Olatunji #quotablequotes)

Let Us Pray: Heavenly Father, like Isaiah, I come into Your presence and see You high and lifted up. Forgive my unclean lips and cleanse me by the fire of Your altar. When You ask, "Whom shall I send?" — let my answer be "Here am I; send me." Make me faithful to speak Your Word in every season and to carry hope to my family, church, and generation — in Jesus' most glorious name. Amen.

_____________________

Thank you for threshing the Word with me today. For further study on this topic, please read: Isaiah 1:1; Isaiah 7:1–14; Isaiah 20:1–6; Isaiah 37:1–38; Isaiah 53:1–12; Romans 10:14–15; Hebrews 11:37.

With all my love and prayers,

Simon Wale Olatunji, Ph.D.

Your Darling Bishop (DaBishop)

Send | Share | Subscribe | Support