Expressing oneself through artwork is a beautiful and moving experience because of the opportunity to convey what cannot be put into words. Artists have the luxury of choosing from many mediums, like paper used for collages and clay for molding into sculptures. There are also pastels, charcoals, acrylics, and oils. However, the most intimidating type are watercolors.

Some folks are reluctant to paint with that medium because of its permanency once the brush touches the thick, coarse paper, unlike oils, which are forgiving of all types of mishaps. Painting over watercolor mistakes is near to impossible. I know because I’ve tried.

My first watercolor class took place the spring of 1991, in Columbia, South Carolina at the rear of an art supply store when it was closed in the evenings. During one particular lesson, I became frustrated after I realized I used the wrong color to paint the brick on a picture of an old Kentucky home. My teacher, a Dentist by day said, “You can’t go lighter with watercolor, but you can go darker.” He went on to explain that you cannot paint a light color, like white, on top of a darker color such as the alizarin crimson hue.

Try as one may, it’s impossible to cover up our personal mistakes. And going deeper, it’s unfeasible to paint over the scarlet stain on the soul, that three-letter word that takes us to dark places, the noun we shy away from even speaking: sin.

Since a lot of pastors today refrain from preaching about the ongoing problem of sin, many people who faithfully sit in the pew act like it no longer exists. The leader’s beliefs (or lack thereof) become the church members.

So they think they are okay just because they attend church, but their spiritual dysfunction continues when they return to the real world. They may have received a flicker of light for an hour or two at church, but the shadows of the long week ahead keep them disconnected spiritually, and the darkness they feel intensifies.  

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could grab a palette knife, containing a generous amount of paint and dab it over our sins? No one would ever know. But God knows.

The prophet Isaiah doesn’t wait around to cut to the chase of Israel’s spiritual condition, which is still relevant today. In the opening chapter, 1:18 he writes, “Come now, let us settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.” (NIV)                                                           

As a watercolor artist, I am constantly amazed that Creator God entered time and space as the person Jesus. The Artist broke into His painting; the earth He spoke into existence. He came to remove what we could not, the crimson blemish of our sins. The Artist did his blood-red atoning work on an old, rugged cross so that our sins could be forgiven.

Have you responded to His gentle invitation of cleansing? Do you know any neighbors, friends or family who you discern need Jesus? You may be the only Bible others read. You may be the only Jesus some people ever see.