To Encourage You

Isaiah 1:18 “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.”

Regrets: do you have any?  I can tell you that I surely do. From time to time my mind goes to how I could have done this or that better as a young person, son, husband, father, grandfather, employee, supervisor, neighbor, and whatever other roles in which I’ve found myself over the years.  But one of the things for which I must be on the watch is when those regrets turn into accusations that can eventually spiral downward and out of control.  It’s not a good place in which to be, but it’s a place the enemy of our souls would like to take us.

So what’s our defense?  Well, for the Christian, the defense for anything like this that is an attack on our way of thinking is the Word of God.  It is this record of the very thoughts of God that renew the minds of those who read it (Romans 12:2).  One example is the wonderful verse above from Isaiah 1.  It’s expressed in terms of an invitation.  It’s calling people to think, to reason, but to “reason together” with the Lord.  It’s calling us to think LIKE HIM, not in opposition to Him, which is our natural bent.  It’s a call to sinners that beckons them to take stock of themselves. It’s telling them to be honest about their condition, to see their sin for what it is. It’s something that is a great stain to them. It’s an ugly mark on their lives.  And while they may not see it for what it is, God surely does. As He looks at them “He sees red.” Perhaps that’s the source of this idiom. It means to be very angry, for God’s Word also says, “God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11 KJV). 

Yet, it’s a verse about God’s incredible mercy and how He is ready to forgive.  It calls sinners to a new condition and tells them that they need not stay where they are.  It’s the message of the gospel, as it looks forward to the time when Jesus would die on a cross to take away sin.  And so it calls sinners to come to their senses and think deeply about their sin. God is inviting them to be cleansed from the sin that marks them. They can become as white as snow.

But then for the believer, this verse also speaks. It’s a wonderful message to those who, like me, sometimes wallow in regret.  But it’s not speaking in the same way to a believer that it is to an unbeliever, for to the believer it’s a word in the past tense.  In other words, to the believer that has repented of their sins and who has been washed in the blood of Christ, this passage should be understood in the sense that “though your sins (WERE) like scarlet, they (ARE NOW) as white as snow; though they (WERE) red like crimson, they (HAVE) BECOME like wool.” 

It’s such a wonderful truth on which the believer can dwell.  And it’s on such things that the believer, when those accusing thoughts assault him or her, can find refuge and peace.   So, we are told, in the words of the apostle Paul, but more so, in the words of the Holy Spirit as He spoke through Paul to you and me, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9). And surely one of the things that fits this mold is the truth of Isaiah 1:18. Think, then, on such things, and may the God of peace be with you!