Whiter Than Snow

“‘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 as crimson,

they shall be like wool.’”

~Isaiah 1:18 (NIV).

The Lord of all of the ages beckons to us... ‘Come to me, listen up, hear what I have to say.’ “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land.” (1:19) In other words, we’ll be blessed. We will be in communion with the King of creation.

To come to God as a fledgling believer in repentance is to feel this fresh whiteness, our sins—barring none—accounted for. And it should be an ongoing reality for us, each and every time we give our sins over to him who can and does forgive.

Willingness and obedience in this respect is very much about having a repentant heart, always willing to return to God and his will for our momentary and seasonal lives.

God is the specialist of transforming the worst ugly bits of our past and present failings—all our guilt and shame, hurts and resentments—into shiny new vestiges of his glorious brilliance. We then glory privately in our failings for what God has done in them finally. At times we then testify too!

When God says, “Come now, let us reason together,” he shows us how relational he is; his “distance” to us is only generally ever what we put there. We either turn wantonly from God or in our sin we, again, turn from him; we can just as easily about-face and be directly with him, just as the prodigal son (Luke 15:17-20) was with his father.

All through the Bible, God has actively sought us. He seeks us today; right this minute. He desires us with a love that refuses to give up. He knows we can be clean and he wants to clean us. Yet, it is at the end of the day up to us entirely.

Come now, reason with him who can set you free—yes, even today!

© 2010 S. J. Wickham.