R.S.V.P.

"You've been especially and specifically chosen to come and test-drive our car," the invitation read in my mailbox. But when I saw that it was addressed to "Occupant," I wondered how specifically chosen I really was. Many invitations are humorous. Some are dubious. But some are actually pretty awesome. The Bible has a bunch of invitations like that - that have meant a great deal to me over the years...

Exodus 32:26a
"then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, "Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!"...

Isaiah 55:1
"Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost."

Matthew 11:28
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."

John 7:37-38
"Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'"

Revelation 22:17
"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost."

See what I mean, there are some pretty cool invitations in the Bible. Maybe none as powerful and meaningful as the one I read this morning during my Desperation Journal time:

Isaiah 1:18
"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the Lord, 'Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool."

Isaiah was writing to people who were totally abandoning their former religious beliefs (apostasy). They were rebelling against the Lord and not interested in obeying Him. Yet, instead of giving a word of annihilation, the Lord, in His matchless grace and mercy, offers a word of invitation. To people who were, at best, apathetic toward Him, the Lord says, "Come on... let's reason together. Think with Me. Consider with Me."

And that's the message for me today too. "Come now, Michael, let's reason together." Sin is sick. It's not bad because it's forbidden by God. Rather sin is forbidden by God because it's bad. He knows it destroys, erodes, ruins, and harms. So He invites us to come to Him and learn why it is unreasonable for us to continue in sin any longer.

I presently know people who were at one time 'radical' for God, but are now in rebellion. All of a sudden, they seem to be apathetic towards God. They skip church, they're involved in things that previously they would have NEVER been involved in. For some reason, sin has become MORE attractive to them than God and living for His Kingdom. Oh, how I wish they could sit for a moment with the Lord... and consider... reason... learn... why it is unreasonable for them to continue in sin any longer.

Here's some things I think they'd have to consider(For sake of time, I won't type out the Bible verses, but trust me, they're worth checking out):

First, sin is like a disgusting disease that pollutes the entire body. (Isaiah 1:5-6). The Book of Romans further describes how sin takes over every part of our being and influences us negatively. A person might look healthy on the outside, but if he is knowingly walking in sin, his very nature is being eroded and destroyed. That is why it's only reasonable for us to consider our sin and repent from it.

Second, sin is a binding cord that holds man in its power (Proverbs 5:22). "I'm free," the sinner insists. "It doesn't matter what I do." And yet when he finds himself addicted, infected with disease, or haunted by guilt; when his family, integrity, and personality are destroyed, he realizes that he is anything but free - that he is bound by the cord of sin.

Third, sin is a destroyer of rest, a disturber of peace. (Psalm 38:3). Sin robs us of the rest, peace, and tranquility we long for and which we once enjoyed. That's why our Father says, "Because I want you to have peace and I want you to be at rest, I want you to stay away from sin.

Fourth, sin is like a foggy cloud that hides the face of God from us. (Isaiah 59:2). Just like when the clouds are in the sky and we can't see the sun, when people say, "Where is God? I can't feel Him. I can't sense Him. Where is He?" very frequently, it's usually due to sin that has come between them and the Son, muting His voice or obscuring His face from them.

Fifth, sin is a clever detective that will find us out (Numbers 32:23). Not only does sin suck us in, but it makes our sin known. There really are no secret sins. We might think we get away with sin for awhile, but according to the Word, we can be sure that sin is a clever detective that will suck us in and then seek us out.

Finally, sin is a thief. It actually robs of blessings and it strips and starves the soul (Jeremiah 5:24-25). God wants to rain blessings upon us and give tremendous harvests to us. It is only our sin that prevents the rain of blessings and abundant harvest that God desires for us to have.

You see,... sin stinks. It holds back God's blessings from our lives, obscures God's vision from our eyes, sneaks up on us and then makes itself known to all people. It erodes, corrupts, and torments. But God says that even though our sins be as bright as crimson and as visible as scarlet, even though they can be seen for miles away, we are invited to come to Him and let Him deal with them.

"No matter how glaring and bright your sin might be, I can make it white as snow," our Father in heaven says to us. I think maybe that I've heard that so many times that it has lost a bit of its meaning to me.

In London many years ago, a minister and his young son were standing in their window, looking down at the street as a parade passed by. In this parade, along with the clown and marching bands, British soldiers marched in their red coats.
"Look at those soldiers, Daddy!" the little boy said. "Look how white their coats are!"
"Their coats are red, son," the minister said.
"No, Daddy, they're white," the little boy insisted.
And when the minister stooped down to his son's vantage point, he saw that his son was looking through a pane of stained glass that bordered the window. Seen through the red glass, the red coats appeared to be white.
Suddenly a light went on in the minister's head. "That's it!" he thought. "Though my sins are scarlet, the Father looks at them through the filter of the blood of His Son and sees me white and pure and clean."

Though my own sins are as scarlet - glaring and ugly - I choose to heed the invitation of my Father who says, "Come, let us reason together. Stay away from sin in the future and confess the sin of your past. Realize it can be white as snow because of the blood of My Son."

Today, I am encouraged to take the Lord up on His invitation. If you've actually read this far, then I hope you are encouraged too. Come to Him. Reason with Him. Repent of any sin the Holy Spirit is bringing to your mind right now. It might be something obvious or something subtle, but you know it's a cord that is beginning to wrap itself tightly around you, a worm eating away inside of you, a detective beginning to follow you, a cloud obscuring God's glory from you, a thief robbing the harvest from you.

"Come," Jesus says. "Come now."