"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.
~ Isaiah 1:18 (NIV)
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I watched part of a documentary yesterday on prison gangs. Wow. Basically, once a gang member, always a gang member. The tattoos they wear to pledge their gang allegiance sometimes cover most of their body. But what happens if one of them wants out? Well, they can actually go to prison officials and pursue a program that helps gang members get out. But it's at quite a price. They must declare, in writing, all the gang crimes they've committed and very likely giving names of other gang members. If allowed into the program, they are moved into a sequestered compound for their protection, because the gang doesn't negotiate. Never can they go back to their old neighborhood. They are probably at risk for the rest of their lives. And of course, the tattoos never go away. Needless to say, they are marked for life in more ways than one...
But as much as God hates sin, He loves people. So He's willing to negotiate -- not by allowing sin to reign, but by offering grace to those who desire to change. By wiping the slate clean for those who come for "a washing."
It's interesting that the Bible paints the picture of being washed or cleansed by blood. Of all the stains in the world, blood is one of the worst to get out! And yet, in the Levitical law, it was blood that was used to cleanse, putting it on the one who needed cleansing (Leviticus 14). In Revelation 7:15, "they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." In Hebrews 9:14, it says that our consciences are cleansed by the blood of Jesus.
When you put blood on a white garment, it is stained --no longer white. But when we, as stained individuals, come to Jesus and get "a washing" in His blood, instead of more stains, we come out clean! White and new like a brand new t-shirt! There's no explaining God's laundering -- it seems backward and impossible, but God is great at making the impossible possible when it comes to giving grace to those who recognize their stains and seek Him for their cleansing.
No matter what you've done, no matter how far you've walked away, God says, Come to me and let's talk together. All you need is a change of heart, a desire to follow Me instead of your own way, which always leads to dirty laundry. I can wipe your slate clean and give you a fresh start. I can turn the stained laundry of your heart and mind into a brand-spankin-clean t-shirt!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)
Love,
Joelene
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