By Katy Mariotti

All of It

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“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 like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
Isaiah 1:18 English Standard Version

Always around this time of year I start to get a little tired of cold weather, but recently one cold morning was so beautiful. It was so cold that what snow fell clung to every branch of every tree, making the world look entirely different. As I was driving home in this wonderland, I badly wanted to take a picture but couldn’t find a good place to stop. When I finally did, I realized that I had stopped at the wrong place: the snow must have blown at a certain angle because only one side of the trees was covered, and the side I was facing wasn’t covered in snow at all!

I do sometimes wonder if we feel this way about the forgiveness of sins. Sure, God sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for us to redeem us, but does that mean we’re really covered? What about those sins that we keep hidden? That we feel the most shame about? What about the sins we keep committing even though we know we shouldn’t?

The news is good. God loves us and knows what is in our hearts, even the darkest parts of them. 1 John says:

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say 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.”
1 John 1:7-9 ESV

ALL sin. ALL unrighteousness. Let us confess our sins and rejoice in a God who forgives us and makes us TRULY white as snow!

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado