Isaiah 1 Devotional

The Wronged One Offers Cleansing

““Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.”Isaiah 1:18 (BSB)

Isaiah's vision opens like a courtroom, with the LORD laying out his case: he raised children, and they turned against him (1:2). The people are still busy with religion, bringing sacrifices, keeping feasts, and piling up prayers, yet God says he is weary of it all, because their hands are stained with blood and the widow and the fatherless go undefended (1:11-17). Worship that leaves injustice untouched is not worship God receives.

Then comes an invitation. The LORD calls his people to come and settle the matter with him, and he promises that sins dyed the deepest red can be made clean and white (1:18). The offer comes from the one they have wronged. God does not wait for Judah to scrub itself clean; he offers to do the cleansing. John says the blood of Jesus cleanses those who walk in the light from every sin (1 John 1:7). Because that offer still stands, you can bring God your worst stains rather than your best performance.

To think about: What stain have you been trying to cover with religious activity instead of bringing it honestly to God for cleansing?