“‘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’" (Isaiah 6:5).

Change is hard. First, we must see our need for change. Then we must let God change us.

God used a vision of Jesus as an agent of change in Isaiah’s life. After seeing Jesus as He is, none of us can remain the same.

God had prophesied through Isaiah six woes upon the rebellious children of Israel (5:11-22).

Once Isaiah saw Jesus in all His glory, Isaiah uttered the seventh woe against himself. When he observed angels crying, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty” (6:3), Isaiah realized his own unworthiness and saw the overwhelming sin of his people. Their mouths spewed pride, discord, and lies instead of praise for the Holy One.

Isaiah saw that he needed to change before he could serve as a channel for God’s Word—a high honor, indeed, for anyone to enjoy. Realizing his only hope for cleansing would come from the fire of God’s holiness, Isaiah must have felt humility and pain in the process. But afterwards he was ready to share God’s pure and precious Word.

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