Live Forgiven Live Free Live Loved
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes (Eph 1:4 NLT)
“Come, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow…”
(Isa 1:18 CSB)
Today, are you living free? Forgiven? Loved?
If not, what is holding you back? Is it the “s” word? The word we do not like to talk about but is part of us (unfortunately)…. “Sin.” And not just any sin but the good ‘ol scarlet type of sin that makes people a bit uncomfortable talking about. Well, my friend, come pull up a chair and grab a cup of coffee and let’s chat--- one scarlet sinner to another.
In a particularly dark season of my life, I remember reading the verse in Isaiah where the Lord tells us that the matter is simply settled…my sins of scarlet will be white as snow. Oh, how I battled in my response and my lack of acceptance of such a profound grace and mercy. I found myself saying in response, “yeah sure God, do you know just how bright a color of scarlet my sins are?” “It would take a foot of snow to not have them shine through light Rudolph’s nose.” I remember the shame, the guilt, and the pain. But of course, He knew and in response, He simply says, “let’s settle this, your sins are scarlet, but they will be as white as snow.”
It took time for my heart to accept this truth, but it did happen, and I began hearing the faintest whisper of, “I love you.” Oh, how I wanted to believe these three simple words. But upon hearing them the shame, the guilt came flooding back into my being. I so wanted to have a magical power to go back in time and just wipe this chapter from my life. But I couldn’t, there it was part of my life story.
How about you? Do you have a similar chapter in your life that you wish you had the power to wipe it away? Maybe you try in your way. Maybe you try to wipe it away with alcohol as that seems to dull the pain. Or maybe you bury yourself in work as that keeps your mind busy and not quiet to really sit alone with yourself and the Lord?
But what if you were alone with God and just as in the lyrics of In the Garden, you walked with Him and talked with Him, and He tells you that you are His. And as you journey through the pain, the feelings of guilt and shame, He takes the tears of sorrow and replaces them with joy in your heart that you have never known. What if it took the sin of scarlet to be able to receive and understand how deep His love is for you. A love that had been formed before you entered the world. A love that allows not even those scarlet sins to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us.
Go ahead and allow yourself to live a life free… a life forgiven… a life loved!