One of the joys of a computer is the ability to take old photographs and revitalize them. Time fades prints and with a few careful keystrokes and movements of the mouse they look new again. We can remove wrinkles on loved one’s necks and bags from under their eyes. We can put a sparkle in their eyes and ever so lightly whiten teeth. It is great fun! We can even create events by putting people in the same picture with another person they never met. Photography is an art. It is no longer always a representation of reality.
It is little different from what God longs to do for us. He is an artist. He longs to paint a portrait of Himself in each of us. We will look so great with Him as part of our being. After all He has no wrinkles, no blotches, no blemishes. He longs to take the wrinkles out of our personalities. He wants to remove the blotches and blemishes. It must be great fun for Him to see His loved one becoming what they want to be—like Him.
Isaiah 1:18 is one of the most famous of all verses in Scripture. It reads, “Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be as wool.” We must never forget—we were first made in His likeness and it is to that end that we are destined.
Written July 23, 2004