There's White and then there's Really White

  I have painted a lot of houses in my lifetime. It was due to moving so much. It seemed that we would be paining the inside of an apartment or house after we moved in. We usually ended up using a type of “white” paint. I soon became aware of all of the different shades of white that there are at the paint store. My computer tells me that there are about 32 million shades of different color so just imagine how many different shades of white that there are in the average paint store. You can have white, off white, cream, eggshell and the list goes on and on. You may not notice the difference until you compare one of the “off” shades with “real white.” Isaiah 6:5 says, “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

      Isaiah was a prophet which probably meant that he was a straight laced individual as we might call it today. He probably prayed a lot and got to know God very well. He was the spokesman that God chose to deliver a message to a specific people at a specific time. Isaiah found that the closer he got to God, the more his imperfections stood out. In Isaiah 64:6, he compares our righteousnesses as filthy rags. That means that all of the things that we think are great are really filthy when we get to compare them with what God really wants. Isaiah’s statement about his unclean lips among a people of unclean lips reveals how he felt during the vision that occurred. The Apostle Paul goes even further when he makes the following statement in Second Corinthians 5:20-21, “Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Our sins have been imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ and His righteousness has been imputed to us. Now, how great is that? Sometimes, our shortcomings seem to be just a tad discouraging, but it is part of the Christian life. We are in a period of growth that goes on from the first day of our Christian life until the day that He takes us home either through death or the rapture. Isaiah may have thought at one time that he was Okay but when he got close to God he found our otherwise. The same is true of us. The closer we get to God, the holier we see that He is. We, however, don’t stop. We keep pursuing after holiness. So praise God today for His Holiness and the fact that the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to you and I. Hallelujah, What a Savior!