NIV 365 / Undone

The NIV 365-Day Devotional Reading Plan

Day 139 of 365 When the prophet Isaiah had a vision of the glorious and awesome Creator of the universe, he was overwhelmed both by the holiness of God and by his own sudden awareness of the depth of his sin. Read this observation by R. C. Sproul as he comments on Isaiah's encounter with the holiness of God: "To be undone means to come apart at the seams, to be unraveled. What Isaiah was expressing is what modern psychologists describe as the experience of personal disintegration. To disintegrate means exactly what the word suggests, 'dis integrate.' To integrate something is to put pieces together in a unified whole . . . The word integrity . . . [suggests] a person whose life is whole or wholesome. In modern slang we say, 'He's got it all together.' "* In the face of God's perfect integration, Isaiah saw his deep need for personal reconstruction. Isaiah realized the depth of his own sin in the process of catching a glimpse of God's perfect holiness, and he acknowledged those areas in which he had turned from his commitments as a priest and a prophet. But his commitment and his life as a faithful prophet demonstrate for all leaders the possibility of framing a life of integrity with God's help. *Sproul, One Holy Passion Taken from NIV Leadership Bible Isaiah 6:1-7 Isaiah 6:1-7 KJV 1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. 6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.