You may recognize the title as a quote from the mouth of the prophet Isaiah (Is. 6:8).  I truly admire Isaiah for his willingness to accept the responsibility of carrying out the Lord’s work when no one around him was willing to do such.  However, Isaiah had great motivation for doing the Lord’s work.  As we look at Isaiah 6:1-8, we are able to see what it is that motivated Isaiah to say what he did in verse 8.
     As this passage begins, Isaiah sees a representation of the glory of God.  He does not actually see God upon His throne, but he does see the magnificence and glory of God in a vision.  Around the throne of God Isaiah saw seraphims (angelic beings with six wings) flying, crying out, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts.”  Because of the holiness of God, the seraphims used two wings to cover their faces, and two wings to cover their feet.  Their cry was so loud that the posts of the door shook.  What an awesome vision this must have been!  With this being only a representation of God’s glory, just think what the actual appearance of God must be like!  How fortunate Isaiah was to catch this glimpse of God’s glory.
     Upon seeing just how holy God is, Isaiah realizes that he is weak and sinful in comparison to the Holy God of heaven.  Realizing what he had just seen, Isaiah cries out, “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 I have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”  Isaiah’s realization of the perfect holiness of God led him to the realization that something must be done before man can stand in the presence of Almighty God.  Isaiah came to grips with the fact that all have sinned, and because of this realization, he could then be cleansed.
     Now that he was cleansed from his sin, Isaiah was in a position to do the Lord’s work.  The Lord asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”  To this Isaiah replied, “Here am I, send me.”  Only after realizing the true holiness of God, realizing that man is sinful and he cannot stand in the presence of the Almighty as he (man) is, and only after being cleansed could Isaiah then accept the responsibility of doing the Lord’s work.
     The same holds true for us today.  Through a study of God’s word we can see the glory and the perfect holiness of God as it is manifested through His Son Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:3).  When we truly realize just how holy God is, we will then see that in comparison we are weak and sinful.  We live in a world full of sin, and many times we allow that sin into our lives.  This realization should then cause us to see that we need to be cleansed if we are ever to stand in the presence of God.  Through the blood of Jesus, we can all stand justified before God.  Then, and only then are we ready to accept the responsibility of carrying out the Lord’s work.