Verse of the Day for September 6

The famous invitation sits in an unexpected place. Just before it, God gives a list of hard, practical commands: relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Just after it, he speaks of being willing and obedient.

So Come now, and let us reason together is not a soft moment set apart from life. It comes right in the middle of God calling his people to change direction. The cleansing and the new direction arrive in the same breath.

Scarlet and crimson were dyes that held fast. Cloth dipped in them did not wash out. Isaiah chooses the most permanent stain he knows and says God can make it white.

Notice too that God says reason, not shout. He invites conversation, as though the people are allowed to bring their side. When plans change, when the life you planned is interrupted by your own choices or by someone else's, God does not stop speaking to you. He asks you to sit down with him.

If you are holding a letter that ended a job, or a plan that collapsed at the last moment, read verse 17 again. Grace often turns you outward. There is still a widow to plead for, still a fatherless child nearby, still good to learn.

The stain that will not wash out is the one God specialises in.

A changed plan can still have a widow in it to help.