In the third blog post, Isaiah experienced God’s unconditional love, and was thus unencumbered to serve God wholeheartedly and to love others as part of his service to the Lord.

Let’s see how the Lord responded, what He asked of Isaiah:

⁹ And he said, “Go, and say to this people:
“‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

¹⁰ Make the heart of this people dull,
    and their ears heavy,
    and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
    and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
    and turn and be healed.”

¹¹ Then I said, “How long, O Lord?”
And he said:
“Until cities lie waste
    without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
    and the land is a desolate waste,
¹² and the Lord removes people far away,
    and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

¹³ And though a tenth remain in it,
   it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
    whose stump remains
    when it is felled.”
The holy seed is its stump.

(Isaiah 6:9-13 ESV)

This was not a message for the faint of heart, for the easily discouraged, or for timid souls, was it?
This message was also one that could not be carried forth without the power of God to sustain Isaiah along the way.

Notice that Isaiah did not resist the message, or doubt – he simply asked how long he was to continue sharing God’s good news of redemption with those around him.

And God’s answer?

In so many words, God said to continue sharing the Good News until there was no one left to tell.

Isaiah was to share the Good News, but leave the results up to God. The Lord was holding Isaiah accountable for his faithfulness, not the outcomes of his sharing of the Good News.

And we have that same privilege of sharing the Good News of the Advent season, that God has come to dwell among us, has taken the punishment for our sins, forgiven us, made us right in God’s sight, and given us the joy of sharing the Good News of Jesus until there is no one else to share with.

Like Isaiah, we are only accountable for our faithfulness is sharing this Good News; God oversees the outcomes.

May you experience and share His joy today.

Merry Christmas, friends.

~kevin