Red Like Crimson White as Snow

I had some bedding that needed to be washed. There was a bright red duvet cover and pillow case, and a yellow sheet and pillow case. As the machine wasn’t full, I decided to put in a few more things to make up a full load. A little while later, when the washing was finished, I went to get it out of the machine. I exclaimed with horror as I opened the door and saw a pair of my husband Dean’s socks, that were now bright pink. They had been white. Dean, who was in the next room, heard me exclaiming, and called out, “What’s the matter?” I felt ashamed as I told him, “Your white socks have turned pink.” There were three pairs of them in the wash. Dean wasn’t as upset as I was and said, “Oh, I thought something worse had happened.”

Sometimes it’s easy to let little things that go wrong in our day get to us and I was cross with myself for being so thoughtless. I knew that dark colours needed to be washed separately from whites, but this knowledge had temporarily slipped my mind. I couldn’t help thinking of the above verse in Isaiah when this incident happened. The Lord spoke these words to His people who had really rebelled and turned away from Him. He wanted them to know that if they would return to Him, there was no sin that He couldn’t forgive and cleanse.

I think that sometimes, even though we have been born again, and come into God’s Kingdom, we need to be reminded of this truth. When we know we have sinned against the Lord, we can come to Him and confess it and repent of it, and He will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). But we need to forgive ourselves in order to be able to receive the Lord’s forgiveness.

Do you struggle with this? I think we all do at times. We all need to let go of the guilt of the sins we have confessed and repented of, instead of remaining in guilt and shame. In 1 John 2:1-2 it says, ‘If anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our cause before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He Himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins’.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I thank You that You have truly atoned for all my sins on the cross. I worship You and thank You that You have paid the full price for my forgiveness and redemption. I trust in You alone for the cleansing and forgiveness I need. Thank You for being my Advocate who pleads my cause before the Father. Amen.