Purified
I have a group of friends who hate to be alone. These folks just cannot stand to be by themselves so they substitute activity for intimacy. If you dug a little deeper into their lives you would discover that all of them have things in their past that continue to haunt them.
Not only am I thrilled about my past, but I am also looking forward to my future. In the meantime, though, I am praising God for the here and now, which He has given me. Mark Twain said, “The inability to forget is far more devastating than the inability to remember.”
When my friend, Joel Long, and I were in the jungle together, he came prepared with this stuff that squirts and takes the stink right out of your tennis shoes. I wish I could tell these group of friends that the love, mercy and grace of Jesus Christ is far greater than the stuff Joel had because it will take the stink out of their soul and it will take the smell out of their past. When Christ cleanses us, He removes the stain of our past sins and He purifies us.
The children of Israel sinned greatly against God—time and time again. In Isaiah 1:18 we discover the grace of God. It says:
“’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.”
Our sins are compared to the color of scarlet and crimson, both shades of red. The only thing that can cleanse us from our sins is the bright, red blood of Jesus Christ. When you accept Him as your Lord and Savior, He takes those stains of your life and lovingly washes them away—your life becomes as white as snow.
His Word also says our sins will be like wool. Let’s look at some of the properties of wool and how it may relate to our lives in Christ. Wool is a good insulator—when you give your life to Christ, He will shield you from the crushing blows of this world. Oh, we will certainly experience pain, but our Lord will sustain us and walk with us through each fiery trial. When wool is exposed to water or steam, it can stretch to about twice its length without breaking. When the pressures of this life bring us to our breaking point, we can still have peace if we are resting securely in His arms.
