Isaiah 1:17-18 MSG :   “Come. Sit down. Let’s argue this out.” This is God’s Message: “If your sins are blood-red, they’ll be snow-white. If they’re red like crimson, they’ll be like wool.   If you’ll willingly obey, you’ll feast like kings.”
At one time in my life, as I succumbed to the stress and anxiety of academic and professional demands, I sought refuge in addictive/compulsive behaviors.  Of course, what followed were guilt, shame, and even despair.  

I remember having a bible in the car with me.  I seldom if ever read the bible at that time.  I can’t recall why I had the bible.  It probably was my grandmother’s bible–the only bible I had ever seen, actually.  I came to a stop light, on my way to another relapse.  For some reason, I opened the bible as I waited for the light.  The verses I read were these from Isaiah 1:18.  The words washed over me like a calming merciful forgiveness–an offer of hope that God still loved me despite my sin and lostness.  
Those words still mean the world to me.  They are the words of a God who loves and who does not condemn–a God of mercy and not vengeful anger.  But I, and you, must first repent.  We must turn to God with a sort of desperate sorrow at our transgressions.  It is then that God says such things as “Come now and let us reason together . . . if you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.”  
Praise the God of mercy, whose love is available to sinners like me.