Isaiah 1:18-19 Come now, and let us reason together,
saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 19 If ye be
willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
God’s first call to us is to come. His desire is for us to come to Him, not
allowing anyone anything to stand between us.
God created us for relationship with Him. It grieves His heart when
there is something in the way of that relationship. When God was inquiring of where Adam and Eve
were, after they had partaken of the forbidden fruit, it was not as an angry
God looking for vengeance. But it was a
broken hearted God feeling the loss in the relationship.
When we stray from God, His desire is always for
restoration. His call is to come as you
are. He doesn’t ask us to clean
ourselves up or jump through a bunch of hoops first. His call is to “come.” He will do the
cleansing. He has made the way of
restoration available to us. The remedy
was made in Christ before the foundation of the world.
The blood of Jesus Christ is like an eraser. If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1
John 1:9)
Psalm 103:8-14 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to
anger, and plenteous in mercy. 9 He will not always chide: neither
will he keep his anger for ever. 10 He hath not dealt with us after
our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the
heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear
him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he
removed our transgressions from us. 13 Like as a father pitieth
his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. 14 For he
knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Once our sins are cleansed there is no record of it in God’s
book. They are put far from us, never to be found again. One time a number of years ago, I was
confessing a sin before God that I had long ago repented of, but was
remembering for some reason. I heard the Lord say, “I keep no record of wrongs.
Neither should you.” Initially I was a little puzzled. As He repeated His
statement I realized what He was saying.
In 1 Corinthians 13:5 NIV one of the characteristics of love is to keep
no record of wrongs. God, who is love, keeps no record of wrongs once they have
been confessed and repented of. His
blood erases the record of that sin.
Micah 7:18-19 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth
iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he
retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 19
He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our
iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
I am so thankful I serve a God who delights in mercy. His call is always to come to Him and reason
together with Him. He is a very
reasonable God who has made the way for us to be forgiven of all our sins and
to be able to daily walk in intimate fellowship with Him.