You’ve Got Mail: An Invitation

A few months back my wife and I received an invitation in the mail.  It was an invite to our granddaughter’s birthday party. Like all invitations it provided the specifics concerning the time, place, what to bring, and a general idea of what was going to happen.  This verse is God’s invitation to us, it also contains specifics regarding time, place, what to bring, and what will happen.

Time and place: God’s place and now.  The Lord’s invitation is to “come now”. He invites us into His presence.  This is not a legal summons that forces us to appear.  It is an invitation that places the choice in our hands. The Lord’s desire is that this meeting would occur right now, with no delay.  Again, the choice of time is in our hands, but why wait?

What to bring: ourselves. The invitation is to “reason together”.  In other words to sit down and discuss, to talk, even to argue or defend your cause.  But notice “together” you can not expect God to listen to your case without you listening to His. We may go into this encounter thinking that we have a case against God. That God somehow has failed in His promises or treated us unjustly. But, in the end our brokenness, rebellion, and sin are graciously revealed.

What will happen: the promise of forgiveness.  The two pictures of the depth of God’s cleansing power are immense.  Both examples speak of deeply dyed colors, scarlet and crimson.  Once cloth has been dyed that deeply it is impossible to ever make it pure white again.  And yet the Lord speaks of two pure white things; snow and virgin wool. Our sins have deeply dyed our souls.  God’s promise is that we can be pure again through the blood of Jesus.  That our sins can be forgiven, that we can be cleansed from all that is not righteous before God. That our guilt can be removed.  But only if we “come now” and “reason together” with Jesus Christ.  “If we confess our sins, He (Jesus) is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, NASB95)

 

Dale Heinold
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