“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ ‘Here I am,’ I said; ‘send me!’” Isaiah 6:8

When I read this verse, I think of love. I’m not talking about the “love” we see on television shows like The Real World, The Bachelor or (my personal favorite) Who Wants to Marry a Midget. I’m talking about self-giving, self-denying love.

The kind of love Jesus showed that day on the cross.

In today’s passage, we are read a dialogue between God and Isaiah. God appears to Isaiah, with a plan for him to go out and preach the Word of God, in a very literal sense. But rather than pointing His finger and saying “Hey, you, I want you to do something for Me,” God merely says “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” And, as any steward of God should, Isaiah replies “Here I am…send me.”

It’s a truly moving scene. And yet, if we examine in as a model for all of Christian life, we see that it holds so much more meaning. You see, our Father has a wonderful plan for us. He sees time in its entirety and knows exactly what is good for us and what will make us truly happy. But our God is not a God of force, nor is He a God who wants us to suffer through our life as if we have no say in the matter; rather, God loves us so intimately and so completely that He gives us a gift that none of His other creations have—He gives us the gift of free will. He allows us the opportunity to accept or to deny Him. And, come what may, He loves us, despite the millions of times we choose to deny Him.

Sin, my brothers and sister, is a denial of Christ. But true acceptance of our Lord is when we simply say “God, I’m here. Do what You need.” It is in dying to our own worldly desires—ambition, pride, lust, greed, hatred—that we enter into the presence of the Lord and it is casting aside these distractions that we allow ourselves to see clearly the beauty and splendor of our King. In short, it is in dying to ourselves that we begin to live in Him.

And here’s the best part—God loves us. When He looks down on the world, He sees us, His most precious creation, and He beams with love. Just like the father who keeps pictures of his children in His wallet, so too God has you on His heart. When we hit that home run, or do our best on our midterms, or help someone who is in need, or laugh amongst our friends, God gathers the nearest angels and says “Hey, look at my son/daughter! She is doing so well…I love her so much and I am so proud of her.” And in those times that we are not doing so well, for whatever reason, God comes to us, places His arms around us, and weeps with us.

In her biography of John Paul II, Peggy Noonan paraphrases our beloved-pope:

“God Himself loves and cares, in the most literal and basic sense, for all creation. But He provides for man differently from the way in which He provides for others in His handiwork. He cares for man not ‘from without,’ through the laws of physical nature, but ‘from within,’ through reason, which, by its natural knowledge of God’s eternal law, is able to show man the right direction to take in his free actions.”

God desperately wants us to live for Him. He has a special plan for us, one that includes using all the talents and gifts that He has blessed us with. He may be calling you to marriage, to a specific field of study, to religious life, to single life…or something completely different. Regardless, He calls all of us to holiness. And true holiness comes when we allow God to permeate and inundate our hearts and our lives. Then, and only then, will we be truly free.

God knocks at the doors of our hearts. Heck, sometimes He even bangs and rings the doorbell a hundred times. But it is up to us to make the choice to open that door, or to ignore it.

The choice is yours. And that’s how God intends it.