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"Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, [Here I am]. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;" (Isaiah 58:9) When I see those 3 little words in this verse, "Here I am", I think back to my 7th grade Junior High School days. The very first hour was Gym Class, and the Gym teacher was one formidable but fair man. First thing every morning, He would have us boys line up and begin the roll call.Now, when our names were called, we didn't answer. With a "Yes", or a," Yep", or a "Yeah", or a " Yo." On the first day of class, he stressed to us to answer him a certain way. It was similar to "Here I am ", but we would respond by saying, "I am here." He believed that it showed character and indicated that we were ready for whatever the situations of the day were which he had planned. Responding differently meant an uncaring and unwilling attitude.Isaiah reminds the people of his day if they would but call out to God in their confession of sins and the healing of their hurts, that He would quickly respond, "Here I am." For the Lord is the epitome of character and would be more than ready for their everyday situations. You see, unlike us, God would never be guilty of responding in an uncaring and unwilling manner when His Name was called upon for help.When we look to the New Testament, it was nearly 2,000 years ago when some ladies came one morning with sweet spices to anoint our Lords body which they thought lay still and silent in that borrowed tomb. But Praise God, the stone had been rolled away. Death could not keep our Redeemer, and ever since that long ago day, His resurrection will never be kept in silence by those who have trusted Him as Saviour.Then, one clothed in a long white garment replied, "Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; HE IS NOT HERE: behold the place where they laid him." (caps mine) Along with many other reasons, He wasn't "there that day" was because He longed to be "HERE THIS DAY" for you and me. Today, our Saviour's readiness to hear and help each of us is akin to, "HERE I AM~HERE I AM~ HERE I AM!Friends, even when everything else fails us and everyone else flees from us, what courage and comfort the Lord promises us when we cry out to Him and hear deep within our heart His reply, "HERE I AM."