Day 4 — Holy, Holy, Holy

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him stood seraphim, each having 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 out to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.’”

— Isaiah 6:1–3 (BSB)

One day the prophet Isaiah had a vision. He saw God sitting on a high throne, so great that just the edge of His robe filled the whole temple. Around Him flew amazing angel-like beings called seraphim. And they were shouting to each other, “Holy, holy, holy!”

Why say it three times? In the Hebrew language, repeating a word is a way of making it as strong as possible. Saying “holy” once means very holy. Saying it three times means the holiest there could ever be. The Bible never says God is “love, love, love” or “strong, strong, strong.” But it does say He is “holy, holy, holy.”

So what does holy mean? It means set apart: completely different from anything else. God is perfectly pure. There is nothing bad in Him at all. Not even a tiny bit. He has never told a lie, never been selfish, never made a mistake. Even the seraphim, who had never sinned, covered their faces in front of Him.

When Isaiah saw how holy God was, he suddenly saw himself clearly too. He cried out, “Woe to me!” He knew he wasn’t pure like God. It’s like walking into a bright room and suddenly noticing all the mud on your shoes.

But God didn’t leave Isaiah there. One of the seraphim flew to him with a burning coal and touched his lips, and said his guilt was taken away. God made Isaiah clean.

That’s a sneak peek of what we’ll learn next week. God is holy, and we’re not. That’s a big problem. But God has a way to make us clean, and it’s the best news ever.

For now, remember this: God is not just a bigger, stronger version of us. He is holy. He deserves our worship, our respect and our whole hearts.

Think about it: Isaiah’s first reaction to seeing God was to see his own sin. Why do you think that happened?

Try this: Write the word HOLY in your notebook. Underneath, write down three things you learned today about what it means.

Holy, holy, holy God, You are perfectly good and pure. There is no one like You. I’m sorry for the times I have treated You like You are small. Thank You that You make people clean, like You did for Isaiah. Help me worship You the way You deserve. In Jesus’ name, Amen.