Simon Peter and his buddies had been fishing all night without even one catch when Jesus showed up on the scene and told them to cast out their nets one more time. Peter had his doubts, but he told Jesus he'd do it because he asked him to. When he pulled those heavy nets up watching them break with the weight of the fish they'd caught, he was keenly aware that he was in the presence of Greatness, face to face with God.
At that moment, "he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” In response, Jesus said to Peter, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” Luke 5:8-10
Isaiah had a similar experience when he came face to face with the Glory of God. In that moment, he said, “Woe to me! 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.” and in response, God tells him his sins are atoned for and asks Isaiah, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And, God commissions Isaiah to go forth and give the people an important message from Himself.
When I was listening to my NIV cds the other morning while I folded laundry, it struck me that I don't think it is a coincidence that both of these men were commissioned by God immediately after their acknowledgement of their own sinful nature. Until we truly come face to face with God we might have a hard time admitting that we are sinful because we play the comparison game. As long as we can say that we are nice people who generally do the right thing and haven't murdered anyone, we can tend to feel like we are "good people." But once we truly see Him and discover who He is through His Word and the Holy Spirit revealing the truth to us in our hearts, the comparisons stop and it is only Him and us...and we are humbled to the point of wanting to hide our faces in shame or run as fast as we can in the other direction because something inside of us knows that we aren't worthy of the love, the grace and mercy He offers us. We aren't worthy of being called His children. Yet, it is in that moment that He lifts our chin and shows us Grace and commissions us to live our lives for Him. So beautiful that Grace...
Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear and Grace my fears relieved...How precious did that Grace appear, the hour I first believed.
Have you met God face to face? If you have never felt that conviction...your sinfulness as compared to His holiness and His overwhelming grace and love for you despite your shortcomings...You need to ask yourself if you have truly met Jesus. If you think you have met Him, yet you walked away unchanged, it may not have been Him you met at all. You may have grown up in church your whole life, and still not met Him. Your idea of who He is may be all wrong if you have never felt your need for forgiveness and His loving grace. Get to know Him, and do it now, He's right there...knocking on the door to your heart.
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. Revelation 3:20
