Let’s Settle This

“Come, let’s settle this,”

says the Lord.

“Though your sins are scarlet,

they will be as white as snow;

though they are crimson red,

they will be like wool.”

Isaiah 1:18

This was the verse that was read at church this morning during our time of confession. As the pastor read this verse, tears fell from my eyes. I thought about the past week. All of my anger, pride, unbelief. All of my impatience with others and vulgar language. Every time I had hate for someone in my heart. I was stained red. So red. Colossians 3 gives us a good look into the reality of our “earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry… anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language.” All things that live inside of me. I am crimson red. 

But as I thought about these things, and the heaviness and the guilt of it all. I couldn’t help but smile with tears in my eyes at the first line of this verse. “Come, let’s settle this.” Gentle. Drawing close. And unafraid. This God sees me and the huge stack of debt I have against Him, and wants to make a settlement. To have the option of a settlement in the first place is mind-boggling, but then realizing what that settlement consists of makes no sense. Nothing. I do absolutely nothing. And in return… everything I wrote in the list from Colossians 3 will be white as snow, like wool.

I am constantly left in awe by truths I have been taught since I was a child. I am in awe of all the different ways the gospel of Christ has landed on my heart and absolutely wrecked me. Some days I don’t feel it too much. I don’t think about the miracle that is my sin being washed as white as snow. I forget about it too often. Some days I easily follow the devices and desires of my own heart. All that is listed in Colossians 3.

But I am thankful that each and every day, whether I remember or I don’t, Christ looks at me with a smile and a gentle nod, and He says, “Come, let’s settle this.”