4.7.2026 - Anneke de Jong
Tuesday, April 7, 2026
This week’s devotionals were written by Anneke de Jong, a member of Visalia CRC. A lifetime of studying the Bible has given me a deep love for God’s Word and a heart for helping others grow in biblical literacy. My husband and I raised four sons, and we now enjoy watching their families grow. When I’m not with our grandkids, you can find me at our goat dairy in Hanford, CA.
As you come to your time with God today, pause for a moment of silence before you begin with this prayer:
Holy, Holy, Holy are you Lord God Almighty - who was, and is, and is to come.
Open my eyes, that I may see you. Open my ears, that I may hear you.
Open my heart, that I may know you and love you more and more each day.
Amen
One of the most powerful descriptions of God’s holiness is found in Isaiah 6:1-4. I invite you to read the passage below slowly and carefully. Take some time to visualize the scene and imagine yourself in Isaiah’s place.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
At the sound of their voices, the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
I will be honest in saying that I had a hard time getting started on this devotional. I knew this was the text I’d selected, and the prospect of coming face-to-face with God’s holiness made me uncomfortable. I didn’t want to go there.
I felt like the people of Exodus 19:16-18 when God revealed his holy presence on Mt. Sinai.
On the morning of the third day, there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.
The holiness of God is not something to be trifled with. God’s presence made the Israelites tremble in fear, and no one could come near without first being consecrated and purified.
So in my own small, insignificant way, it's no wonder I cleaned my whole house and did every other mundane task I could come up with, before finally sitting down with Isaiah’s vision of God.
The holiness of God reveals our unholiness. When we consider how holy God is, our own sin and unworthiness are exposed, and we come face to face with the reality of who we really are.
Isaiah speaks for all of humanity when he says,
“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)
In the light of God’s holiness, we are totally ruined. It’s no wonder that we often avoid thinking about the holiness of God.
But then, the most incredible thing happens. God’s holiness is extended to Isaiah.
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it, he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6:6-7)
This holy God made a way for unholy people to be declared holy and acceptable in his sight. Cleansed and purified. For Isaiah, it came in the form of a coal. This coal came from the altar on which sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins had been made. Those sacrifices were a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Jesus on the altar of the cross. His life was given to take away our guilt and atone for our sins.
“…we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10)
This holy God we encounter in Isaiah 6 used his power and glory to make us holy. To purify us and to draw us into his presence, where we find forgiveness and grace in Jesus.
God’s holy presence should make us uncomfortable. But it's also the only place we should want to be. For out of God’s holiness flows God’s perfect love, mercy and grace.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
How do you think about the holiness of God? Does seeing God’s holiness in Isaiah 6 change the way you approach God?