Let's Be Reasonable!

"'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 1:18)

"Let's be reasonable!" How many times have you heard that plea, beloved, either from someone else or possibly from your own lips? Unfortunately, most of the time when these words are used, it is a cry for folks to come back to the "middle," to forsake some perceived radical position or viewpoint. It is an urging in the direction of a more "middle of the road" approach to whatever issue is at stake. In so many such cases, the "truth" is commonly sacrificed for an easier path, a less troublesome way of dealing with the situation.

Most followers of Jesus Christ have read their Bibles often enough to be at least generally familiar with the words which God spoke to His people through their prophet Isaiah. What may not be understood, however, is that never does "reason" or "reasonable" to God mean meeting Him in the middle or taking the smoother way out of or through a set of circumstances. What does it mean, then, when Jehovah invited Israel to come to the table and "reason" with Him? The Hebrew word yakach (yaw-kahh') contains the notion of something "reciprocal" going on, but definitely not in the sense of equals meeting to reason together. It is clear, beloved, that both "reason" and "justice" are on God's side of the equation. Note simply His willingness to cleanse and forgive the undeniable sinfulness of man.

Thus, to "reason" together with God, beloved, is to submit ourselves willingly and completely to the standard which God lays down for us. As Edward Young has noted:

"That which is reasonable is reasonable only because God Himself has declared it to be so" (The Book of Isaiah, I, 76).

So to "reason" together with God is to acknowledge His sovereign rule and to obey His commands. In God's sight, nothing less than total obedience is "reasonable."

The "red" which God mentions to Israel through the prophet does not seem to refer in any way to anything redemptive, but rather to the color of sin. And that understanding is confirmed by the "white" which we may become when we repent of our sins and receive God's forgiveness by grace. God would not regard His people's sins as "white" apart from their genuine repentance, nor will He extend that same offer to us today.

So the next time you hear someone say "Let's be reasonable!" think about what "reasonable" is to God and remember that it is only through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and our own repentance and acceptance of that gracious gift that what is "red" in us can be made "as white as snow"! Thanks be to God for His glorious gift!

Ron