The Color of Mercy... the Wayfarer 10/15/17

The Color of Mercy
10/15/17

Isaiah 1:18 KJV

¹⁸Come 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.

Color is such a great part of the world we live in, that merely the mention of  a single color evokes a portrait within the mind of the hearer of all that can be represented by its shade and depth.

Beauty lies in the azure blue of a sky dotted with fluffy white clouds holding no threat of rain as it stretches out endlessly to the eyes of the beholder taking the time to look upward in appreciation of that beauty.

It lies within the greens that populate the springtime as fertile fields produce the young shoots of crops and grass that grow replenishing the crops and hay consumed the past year.

The array of color increases throughout the seasons as plants flower, adding their beauty to the mix.

Rich color populates the rainbows that remind us of the promise given Noah, reminding us also of the awe with which that promise continues.

As autumn arrives, the color bursts forth delivering even more of the beauty of God's creation, as trees clothe themselves in the rich reds and golds covering mountain and plain alike.

The seas boast themselves of the greens and blues and whites of the surf along sands that vary in color from snowy white to the darker colors that are unique to each coast, each beach on each islet throughout the world bedecked with the glory of its Creator.

Birds and animals share in that glory, sharing the shades of the regal, as well as the plain colors that grant camouflage and protection to them from predators, those very predators sharing peculiar shade of color unique to themselves.

A child asked what color the grass is will invariably answer that it is green, associating immediately the various shades of color with their every day world.

Colors on a nation's flag identify the nation to which it belongs, the symbolism of those colors apparent to those who commonly identify with both color and shape that represents their past, present and future.

Color is important in the lives of all living things, including men, who also come in various shades of color housing a commonality far more important than the outward color seen by themselves and others.

Shared beneath the skin of that vessel, a common color flows, that is far more important than the outward variation that belies the commonality.

The cries that go out as to which lives matter, deemphasize the common color of the precious fluid that is contained within each.

The question of which of those colors is important was settled long ago  as that same fluid flowed from the broken body of a crucified Savior for all the colors of all men able to see the color of mercy, the color of grace, shared by each of them willing to accept that commonality, and the commonality of the necessity of that Savior's sacrifice for the commonality of sin that exists among them.

Just as the colors of autumn and their differences recede into memory as the snow blankets a world in winter, reflecting a new beauty all its own, so too does the color of mercy given so long ago that it covers the dark shades that are no reflection of beauty at all, but of the ugliness that comes with the stain of sin that plague the very hearts of men of all color.

As the color of mercy, the color of grace, flowed from a cross that knew no mercy, knew no grace, all other color took a lesser precedence in its presence.

As Christ overcame death itself through the resurrection to ascend back to His Father to mediate the fate of men despite the difference in color, the only color of importance became that color of mercy, that color of grace provided to each willing to accept its importance  and obligation for its having flowed.

The color of mercy, the color of grace, remain the red of His blood that was shed for those willing to accept it.

That color flows still within each life, flows still beneath the surface of lesser color holding no import when placed alongside that flow.

The covering of that protective color has lost none of its effectiveness, none of its strength, none of the meaning imparted to it, that still demands a redemption for repentance for which it was originally shed.

That covering, now, as then, requires that it be sought above all concern, with disregard for all other color that distracts from its beauty.

As men reach the final destination of the eternal soul, either much beauty and color will be seen by them, or much darker, much uglier shades will devour that beauty as the color borne by them is revealed through the eyes of God Himself.

Color holds promise... color holds warning.

Choice determines color to be beheld.

Matthew 26:28

²⁸For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

That remission of sin comes only through the acceptance of that blood, shed to make it possible, and the repentance demanded in return for redemption promised by that blood.

John 3:16-21
King James Version (KJV)
¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
¹⁷ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
¹⁸ He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
¹⁹ And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
²⁰ For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
²¹ But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

That remission comes only with the belief and faith that provides that remission, denying condemnation, denying perdition through the acceptance of that precious fluid provided that is proof of the color of mercy, the color of grace!

2 Timothy 1:12
King James Version (KJV)
¹² For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen and Amen

the Wayfarer