Bible Study

Ready Set Go

By Felicity Slemp

Isaiah 6:8 “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!”

Isaiah had an intense encounter with God before hearing God say, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?" Isaiah was ready to answer God positively because he had just met Him face to face. Out of his awe at God’s greatness and Isaiah’s own gratefulness to God for taking away his sin and guilt, he readily volunteered to go and share God’s love with others.

? Write below an experience you have had of saying yes to God.

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? When have you heard God ask you to participate in a particular ministry or mission? How did you answer Him?

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Isaiah was ready for God to minister through him because he had confessed his sin to God and received God’s forgiveness and cleansing. The Holy Spirit could work powerfully through Isaiah because he had surrendered his attitudes, actions and agenda to God and God had cleansed them. We, too, need to be clean and in a right relationship with God before He can use us for His work. Just imagine that it’s a hot day at home and you’re really thirsty because you’ve been working out in the sun. You can get a drink of cold water from one of two taps – the first tap has a rusty nozzle, cobwebs over the sink and scum around the drain. The other tap is gleaming as if it’s recently been polished, the sink is spotless and the drain looks new. Which tap would you choose for your drink?

Our lives are like those taps. If we confess the “rust, cobwebs, and scum” in our hearts and lives, God will clean them up and make us clean and ready for service like the other polished sink. Ask God to clean out the gunk and prepare you to minister powerfully and purely in His name. If we aren’t motivated to do so for our own sakes, then do so for the sake of the people all over the world who desperately need to receive the pure, Living Water from God through us.

? Think about any sin in your lives that would hinder God from working through you today. Sinful attitudes and thoughts are as important to God as actions and we need to confess all of our sin. Remember that I John 1:9 says that if we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, so we don’t have to be afraid to confess our sins to God.

Pray to God, asking His Holy Spirit to reveal impurity in your life. Confess that sin to God, saying, “Lord, you and I both know that I was wrong for __________________________________________.
I have sinned against you and I agree with you that it does not belong in my life. Thank you for forgiving me of all of my unrighteousness. Lord, I need the power of your Holy Spirit in order to live purely and not to commit that sin again. Thank you that you are more powerful than any sin that will ever tempt me and that you will always provide a way out of temptation for me. Give me the courage to take Your “out.” I love you, Lord. Thank you for loving and forgiving me. Send me to people who need to know about Your love and forgiveness. Help me to be bold and to make the most of every opportunity to share You with others.” (Eph. 6:19 - 20).