Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Isaiah 1:18, “‘Come now, and 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 be as wool.'”

Background

I’m not much of a card player these days. Growing up, my brothers and I used to play spades with my dad fairly regularly. There were also the occasional games of rummy, blackjack, war, crazy 8’s, and Dr. Pepper (2’s, 4’s and 10’s were wild), and plenty of solitaire. But I never did play much poker. Some friends would play on the weekends with pennies as chips, but I never got into it, or played enough to figure out what makes one better at it than another. I understood how to play, but I was still a long way from knowing what I was doing. As adults, many of you might be like me in that you have traded in one form of cards for another. Now instead of sitting around a table with a lamp hanging over the center and a bunch of guys staring each other down, trying to read what is not being said or revealed, we bring our own version of poker to the table of God. But like me in my earlier days, so many of us don’t quite get it. We sit there with God, holding our cards, but we don’t really understand what is in our hand, or even the point of the game. So we bluff. We’ve got some decent cards, but we want God to think we’ve got a straight or a full house. 

Application

But as the cards are turned over, what we hoped was good turns out to be as bad as the scarlet of sin. What we puffed up into something impressive is actually stained with crimson red. But then God does what we didn’t expect. Instead of sitting across from us, trying to beat us, He reveals that He is actually on our side. And the cards that are useless and stained with red, crumpled like a tossed-out deuce, are actually white as snow. The worst hand we have is turned into a royal flush by the King of kings. There is no need to raise, or even ante up. The bank has been broken and poured out lavishly upon us. So bring exactly what you have to His table. Forget about hiding an ace up your sleeve. Bring to Him the hand you have been dealt, and let Him show you what He can do with it, what He has already done to it. There is no chance in His game. 

Charge

As we seek Him today, let God play “hearts” with you. Turn over all your cards to Him and ask Him to make of them what only He can. Don’t try to win what He has already won for you. 

Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words