Today is July Eleventh, or 7-11. In celebration of the 40th anniversary of this frozen drink, today is free slurpee day at participating 7-11 stores. I'm not sure what size they give out, but I want to participate in this.
Today we start the book of Isaiah. Chapter one has one of the most beautiful promises about forgiveness -- in verse 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.'"
God is so for us. He is not a giant Doc Marten's boot in the sky, waiting to come crashing down on you because you suck. He has that right. He is the only one, in fact, Who truly has the right to cut us down. But His choice is to lift us up! He loves us and His actionis are a dramatic effort to build us up and cleanse us.
It's true that He doesn't like sin. He must hate sin -- He went to such great lengths to fix the problem (by sending His Son). It is true that we must somehow ask for forgiveness to get it. We must believe in Him Who He has sent (His Son -- Jesus), but with that belief is a soul-cleansing thing. We are forgiven completely. It's as if a red-stained garment is bleached a blinding white color (not a pink faded red color that's "sort of" white). Our forgiveness is as sure as anything. It is absolute. This realization can be quite motivating. It can be the spark that gets us off our butts and "back into the game," so to speak, serving others and loving with a purpose. It can motivate us to forgive others. Even those dastardly villains who we "know" don't deserve to be forgiven (or won't ask for it). Knowing that God forgave us a much greater debt should free us up to forgive others the petty debts they "owe" us.
By the way, the band Whitecross got their name from this verse. The cross (and its work of forgiveness) is the place where we are cleansed as white as snow...
Only 15 working days left until deadline. (if you count weekends, it's 18 days, 3 hours, 1 minute, and 24 seconds left until this issue needs to be turned in to the printer)
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at July 11, 2005 10:02 AM