Cement

​Isaiah 1:18: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
 
I was sitting with a group of pastors at a restaurant in western Nebraska. We swapped stories and laughed.
 
The oldest pastor among us told of something that had happened to him a few weeks before. He was walking down Main Street, enjoying a lovely Fall Day. Unfortunately, he overlooked a freshly poured square of concrete. There were no warning signs posted. There was no caution tape.
 
After his third step into the cement, he noticed it was wet. Three deep footprints stood starkly in the smooth, fresh cement.
 
The workers were livid, as you would expect. He felt miserable and apologized. And then left quickly. The next day, he went back to the scene of the crime. The cement was smooth again. All signs of his footprints were wiped away.
 
I could not help but reflect on my own life. Every day I live, I walk through areas that I should not. I leave horrible prints on what should be a perfect square of my life. We all do. We all sin.
 
We carry those footprints in our lives. We leave footprints in the lives of those around us. We feel others’ footprints in our own. We begin to define each other based on those footprints. “Oh, do you remember when John Doe did that? I could never trust him again.”
 
But there is someone who removes those footprints. He comes into our lives and smooths out the imperfections, leaving no trace behind.
 
This person is Jesus. He died on the cross for our sins. Scripture says: “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as wool.”
 
When we turn to Jesus in faith, receiving Him as our Savior, he removes our sins as far as the east is from the west.
 
Humanity may still be stuck in the past, remembering our footprints and actions. But God sets us free. In His eyes, there are no footprints. We do not have to be defined by our actions. We are defined by Jesus Christ.