Scarlet

Ran across this photo of a scarlet pimpernel – thought of the book, then Baroness Orczy (I never could pronounce her name) and the basics of misunderstandings – a lack of information on the part of one or the other in a relationship.

It’s a matter of faith on both sides of the relationship, especially on the part of Christians who are called upon to be saved through their own, personal faith – no one else’s:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8 KJV)

We look for reasons, though, don’t we?  We want to know the reason behind decisions before we make our own.  We need the process of rationalization, to know who we are. We’re still in a philosophical age where we need to “find ourselves.” Why can’t we find God’s reasons? Why can’t we make sense out of them?

Many Bible verses use the phrase “by reason of”, as this one:

And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore, so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason of the famine. (Genesis 47:13 KJV)

The ‘age of reason’ wasn’t as new as we would like to think it is. There is truth in Solomon’s “no new thing under the sun.”

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18 KJV)

The only way we can sit down and reason together with God is through His word and prayer.  We know our sins – though we’re usually much better at pointing out others’ rather than our own – and we know our sins deserve punishment. This present age does tend to lessen the concept of punishment. We’ve gone past that into a phase where there is no fault because there are no wrongs. Society has made us what we are, therefore we are not responsible and must change society.

Unfortunately, not all people change. Some hold to truths that have been around for a long time. We are responsible for our actions.  People need to change. Where we run into trouble is trying to make changes within ourselves in order to be acceptable to God. David knew who could make him acceptable:

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. (Psalms 19:14 KJV)

God is the cleanser of my life because He loves me. And you. And our neighbors, ad infinitum. Jesus said so:

For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (Matthew 26:28 KJV)

That’s a huge milestone for some people. It is beyond their imagination to see that God would provide for them in such a personal way, offering life:

But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20:31 KJV)