HELEN SANDERS
7-20-2020
WHITE OUT
I remember when I first learned to type in high school. We had typewriters that were not electric. We had to master the keyboard without looking, and when we made mistakes, we had to use a typewriter eraser to correct our mistakes. It was a challenge. We were graded on how fast we typed and how many errors we made during the test. Then the electric typewriter came out. I was very fortunate to be the first in our class to be given permission to use it. I was a very fast typist. I was typing 150 wpm even in High School. With the speed of the electric typewriter also came the corrections that had to be “fixed” with the eraser.
Later, they came out with erasable paper that made things easier, but still required the “eraser.” Then they came out with correcto-type paper that you could put into the front of the typewriter keys and it would “white out” the mistakes. Later they came out with white out liquid paper corrector that you could “paint” over the mistakes. If you were careful you could make it look like there were no mistakes. Then came word processors with back buttons, and then came computers with backspace buttons that could remove errors so you could retype the correct words. The backspace or “undo” buttons made corrections a breeze.
I was thinking of the “back” button today, and how God has a “white out” or “erase button” system too. In Isaiah 1:18 it says
, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet (red), they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool (white).”
God’s erase button is called repentance. When we repent by confessing our sin, He wipes it out. It is not just erased. It is as if it never happened. It is never remembered by God again. Unlike correcto-tape or liquid white out that still will leave a residue if you look close enough, or an eraser that destroys some of the original paper, God simply removes it and makes the stain of sin white through his shed blood. It is gone forever as if it never happened.
What a blessing to know that He provided a way to get rid of our mistakes (sin) just by asking Him to do it. We all have sinned and missed the mark and He knew it would be like that. Before we ever were created, He had a plan for mankind. What a mighty God we serve!
