Nov 19
8:52 AM
TOP 10: White As Snow (Originally Published 9-21-2020)
Nov 19
8:52 AM
Nov 19
8:52 AM
Friday, November 19, 2021
Isaiah 1:18
TOP 10 LIFE LIFTERS: For the next few weeks, we'll be re-releasing some of the top Life Lifters we've ever published since we started this devotional series. Join us as we look back at popular topics like prayer, joy, trust, and hope!
Today, I'm going to talk to you about how to deal with your past so you can move forward in your life. The number one way you deal with your past is you ask God to forgive you for whatever it is that happened in your past. God gives us many tremendous promises of forgiveness, and today we are going to focus on one of them. God only forgives what we bring to him. I mean, he forgives us for sins that we don't even know about, admittedly, but the best way to deal with your sin is to acknowledge it before God when you get called to attention on it. Then, you can experience His forgiveness. One of God's promises is what I call the white as snow promise. When Isaiah the prophet, speaking for God to Israel some 2700+ years ago about their sin, he made this amazing statement. After talking to the rebellious nation about their sin, he says this in 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 as crimson, they shall be like wool.'"
Our sins are bold, they're red, they're undeniable. They cannot be hidden. They're visible to everybody. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Imagine that, a big blood stain on your white t shirt, and then God says, "I'll make it white as snow. It's as if it's a brand new T shirt right out of the package and no remnant of that blood stain. Though our sins are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Again, he just goes from red to white. The amazing thing is that if you come to God in your rebellion, like Israel was challenged to do here in Isaiah 1!18, God will cleanse you. The basis of God's cleansing is Jesus Christ's blood. It's interesting to me that in Isaiah the idea of sin is painted as crimson red. The color of our blood is crimson red. It's almost like the blood of Christ, over and dealing with and engaging with the blood of our own guiltiness leads to white. It's like red plus red equals white. It's like the blood of Christ can cleanse any stain, because Jesus loves you that much. He wants to flip the script on your life. He wants to help you go from being a crimson mess to being a forgiven person.
The only difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is whether or not our sins are forgiven. Now, hopefully a Christian lives a more noble life. Hopefully a Christian doesn't flirt around with sin. I would hope so. I know many Christians have had their lives changed and transformed, and they are living a more godly life, but that doesn't mean once you become a Christian, you stop being burdened with sin. The difference between a Christian and non Christian ultimately is what happens with our sin, it can be forgiven. So I want to say this, if you're already a Christian, God has already forgiven you in one sense, but in another sense, you need to turn to him to ask for forgiveness when you sin. And you can thank Jesus for that forgiveness because he provided it through his crimson blood. If you're not there yet, I just want you to know this: Jesus Christ loves you. He loves you so much that he shed his blood so that your crimson-stain-sin can be forgiven. I hope you'll know how much Jesus Christ loves you and I hope you know that one of the benefits of getting right with God through His Son Jesus Christ is that forgiveness is available. It doesn't matter what you've done in the past, it's available and he will turn your red, bloody, messy sin as white as snow is white as well. You want that? White as snow is available to you.
Let's pray. Lord, I come to you as one who sins and needs tons of forgiveness. I'm sure everybody listening would agree that their own life would be the same. Thank you that you provided this cleansing opportunity that our sins can be white as snow. When we turn to you, like Israel on their rebellion, if we turn to you, we can find this forgiveness. We do that now. Forgive us our sins, Lord. Forgive the specific sins that we think of, that come to mind right now we give to you. Forgive us. Help us appreciate that we are as white as snow when we ask you to forgive us, in Jesus' name, Amen.