January 30

Read: Isaiah 6:1-7

Woe is me!… I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5).

I See Sin In My Soul

It is said that the grandson of Ernest Renan, who was also a skeptic, knocked one day at the door of a rectory. When the priest answered the door, the young man said, “Come out; I want to talk to you about a problem.” But the priest replied, “No, you come in; I want to talk to you about your sins.” Men do not seek a remedy until they are aware of an illness.

Man needs to be sanctified wholly because he has a sinful nature. God is a holy God. His purpose is that we shall be holy people. But because of sin in our souls we are, apart from the power of His Holy Spirit, utterly incapable of living holy lives. Our fallen human nature is deeply dyed in sin, polluted, and loathsome. To be free from the carnal nature we must first recognize it. But how?

I become most aware of the “sin that dwelleth in me” when I see the holiness of God most clearly. It was when Isaiah realized, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts,” that he cried out, “I am a man of unclean lips.” To see the power of God is always to see our own human weakness. To see the goodness of God is to awaken in us the sharp pain of our human uncleanness, pollution, and profanity.

Let him who has never felt this need go on until the light of God someday breaks in upon his soul. But let him who has felt the exceeding sinfulness of his own nature join in the prayer:

Oh, make me clean! Oh, make me clean! Mine eyes Thy holiness have seen. Oh, send the burning, cleansing flame, And make me clean in Jesus’ name!*

— George Bennard

*Copyright 1940 — Renewal, The Rodeheaver Co. Used by permission.