Morning Manna by Rufus Parker - 2023 Jan 13

 Vision

“In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.” (Isaiah 6:1-13)

Today’s Morsel: I will often ask children and young adults who are in college what they want to be when they grow up. It’s amazing to me that most of them have no clue as to what they may want to become. They look at me as if to say, what is the punchline or are you serious? I find myself telling them that if they don’t decide now, they are going to find themselves like the hamster in the cage going round and round confused and without hope. Scripture says that without vision people perish. Vision is the art of seeing things that are invisible, says Jonathan Swift. The apostle Paul informs us: “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9) What things are you missing because you don’t have vision? The children of Israel couldn’t see how they would be able to get across the Red Sea. All they saw was a large body of water before them because they were looking at what was then present. They did not have the vision to see the pathway that God would make in the midst of the sea. Gehazi could only see the enemy soldiers which were around them because he, too, was looking at what was present. He, like others, could not see the heavenly host that was round about them, because he didn’t have vision. But once Elisha prayed for God to open his eyes he could see. What about you? Do you have a vision of heaven? Paul states: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.” (1 Corinthians 15:19) If we only have hope in Christ for this life, we are going to be some of the most miserable people in the world. We must have a vision and see beyond this life. We must see the next life with Christ, or we will quickly lose hope in this life and perish.

 

Sing: I’m going to a city where there will be no more night.  I’m going to a city where Jesus is the light.   The trumpet's going to sound and I’ll be called away; I’m going to a city someday.