“Come now, let us reason[c] 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.
My friend and I were
sharing mom stories the other day. She was telling me about a Sunday
morning when her oldest child was a toddler. She had bathed him and
dressed him for church. He was looking sharp in a little white short
set. She was waiting with him for the church van and had forgotten
something inside. She set the baby down and told her husband to watch
him. She heard the van honk and came outside. When she rounded the
corner, she saw her freshly cleaned baby in the middle of a mud
puddle with her husband standing by laughing. “I thought I told you
to watch him!” she said. “I did.” he replied. “I watched him
crawl right in there. “At this point she popped her husband over
the head with her Bible, cleaned up the baby and got on the van so
she could go have a little talk with Jesus.
You may be like me.
While I believe in salvation by grace and know that Jesus is the only
way to get it I have a stubborn streak when it comes to asking for
help, even from God. The other night is a good example. I
was worried about something and I was doing my best to be positive,
say positive things and trust. I was falling short, though. My
stomach was tied in knots. My blood pressure was up and I was feeling
irritable with everyone around me. The best I could do was not nearly
good enough. I finally really and truly let go and let God handle it.
His peace was much better than what I could muster. The thing is that
I did not realize I was doing it. Trying to live God’s way without
God’s power will always fall short. Many of us were raised to believe this way, but it is just not scriptural.
Isaiah 64 5-7 says this.
You help all who gladly obeyIsaiah 64 5-7 says this.
and do what you want,
but sin makes you angry.
Only by your help
can we ever be saved.[a]
6 We are unfit to worship you;
each of our good deeds
is merely a filthy rag.
We dry up like leaves;
our sins are storm winds
sweeping us away.
7 No one worships in your name
or remains faithful.
You have turned your back on us
and let our sins melt us away
Fortunately, while God sees the problem, he also gives us the solution. In Isaiah 1: 18 he says,
“Come now, let us reason[c] 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.
It is tempting to try to find our own way, either to salvation or out of our difficulties. Jesus clearly told us in John 14:6, "I am the way the truth and the life.No man comes to the Father except by me."
Lay your burden's down, whether they are burdens of sin or shame of trouble. Jesus is the key and our efforts will leave us far short.
