Whiter Than Snow

“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.” Isaiah 1:18

I woke up this morning to a white world. Snow had fallen through the night, and everything looked clean and new. All the marks and imperfections in the yard from yesterday were gone. This verse in Isaiah came to my mind.

The prophet Isaiah was sent to the nation of Judah to convict them of their sins and their need to seek the Lord. Even though they were bringing their offerings and sacrifice their hearts were full of sin. They had forgotten how much God had done for them. He calls for them to repent and return to the Lord. Isaiah 1:4 describes them: “Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.”

Crimson and scarlet are long-lasting colours. They are the most difficult stains to remove from linens or clothing. How fitting that God used them to show the completeness of His pardon. He promised that if they would turn to Him with a broken and contrite heart, He would wash away their sins and make them as white as snow or wool.

Our desire should always be to have a close communion with the Lord. Even after we have experienced His forgiveness and had our sins washed away with His blood, we will make mistakes and failures. But His blood still prevails. He not only forgives, but He also cleanses. Look at I John 1:7-9.

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

I am so thankful for the blood of Jesus that cleanses from all sin. All day I have been thinking of a chorus we sing in church:

“Thank You Jesus, for the blood applied.

Thank You Jesus, it has washed me white!

Thank You Jesus, You have saved my life!

Brought me from the darkness into glorious light.”

Devotion by Anne Johnston