Our Sins Are Like Scarlet
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Isaiah 1:16-18
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.
Isaiah 33:15,16 RSV
He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil, he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him, his water will be sure.
In other words . . . don’t be worldly. Don’t be like everyone else. Don’t act like them, or speak as they speak. Don’t make your plans based on what they say is important. Don’t strive for anything except God’s approval.
I was struck by the sharp visual contrast in the verses from Chapter 1: The crimson of our sins, the stark, pure white of God’s love. God has high expectations of us, doesn’t He? His instructions, through Isaiah, are to do exactly the opposite of what we have been doing, and adopt a new lifestyle. Turn our backs on the world, and set our sights on heaven. That’s what God is imploring us to do. Obeying these instructions means taking some huge risks. People will look at us differently. They may even call us fools, or dreamers.
The entire focus of our lives, from God’s perspective is . . . well . . . God! The great I AM, the Alpha and the Omega, the Source of all life, calls us to make Him the center of our lives. He calls us because He loves us. He bids us to honor Him by how we live our lives. He longs for us to live forever with Him in heaven, and so He tells us how to get there. Wow! He gives us all the answers!
He takes our crimson, sin-soaked souls and washes them clean, not just once! He washes us and makes us new each and every day. Every day we start with a clean slate, white as snow. Every day, God has already set in place everything we will need to make it through that day. Of course, we often don’t see that until months or years later. I guess that’s true because God’s view of time is so much different than ours. Perhaps its because we’re not in the habit of looking for it! Perhaps if we spent a few quiet minutes at the end of every day, ticking off all the ways our needs were met, we would realize how intimately God is involved in our lives.
God has granted us eternal life through Jesus Christ. All He asks from us in return is to honor and love our Creator with our very lives. All? Just? Only? I know . . . but think about what God has given us. Then our questions will be: All!? Just!? Only!? Why me? How could I be loved that much? What should I do in gratitude and awe and thanksgiving to merit all that?
The answer of course, is to make God the main thing, the center and focus of your life. Everything else falls into line then. The past unfolds to reveal God’s presence there through it all and the future holds the bright promise of eternal life. The Great I AM suspends time and space to wait for you to find Him. I say it again: Wow! Why me?
My prayer today is that you will make God the focus of your life. And that you lift a prayer of thanks for His unspeakable love.
Mary
