How To Fully Respond To God's Call
by Dan Jones, M.D.
Isaiah 6:5-8
"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Yes, that's me. I want to go and serve. It is my calling and my comfort zone. But let's continue to explore God's prerequisites to a life of service. In the last devotion, we learned God wants us to acknowledge that he is Holy. In verses 5-7 of Isaiah 6, we see the second prerequisite for our ability to fully respond to God's call with "Here am I. Send me."
Our second prerequisite to fully responding to a call for a life of service is repentance. Isaiah recognized he was unclean and lived among unclean people. He recognized he was not worthy to see God's face. But God was merciful to Isaiah and provided a mechanism for repentance and forgiveness of his sins. Recognizing, confessing, and repenting of our sins is necessary for a right relationship with God. Repentance includes turning away from our sin to intentionally walk a life of obedience with God. Thankfully, through the death of His Son, God has provided a mechanism for all of us to receive forgiveness of our sins.
I have had the sad occasion to know a good number of highly gifted health professionals who provided wonderful professional service to their patients, but who lacked joy and fulfillment in their professional lives. Often, the source of their unfulfilled life can be linked to an inability to deal with some sin in their life. Even after we have asked for forgiveness of our sins initially and accepted God's gift of eternal life, sin creeps back into our lives. This sin, un-confessed and un-repented becomes a barrier to our completely answering God's call "Here am I. Send me."
Lord, help me recognize the sin in my life that separates me from you. Lord, I want to confess and repent of that sin now so you can completely use me in your service.
Dan Jones, M.D., MACP, FAHA, a board-certified Internist, a former medical missionary to Korea, professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Dean of the School of Medicine, and Chancellor of the University of Mississippi until 2015. Dr. Dan Jones is a member of CMDA.
Dr. Jones welcomes any comments or questions about what he has written and can be reached at - djones@umc.edu
Rounds with the Master, Spiritual Pearls from the Great Physician Devotionals are released every Monday and Thursday.
Photo by Grant Whitty on Unsplash
