Pop quiz: What colour is a polar bear’s skin?

Did you guess “white”?

It’s the obvious answer, isn’t it, because their fur is white.

Surprisingly, though, you’d be wrong.

If you shaved a polar bear, you’d discover that it would look much like its cousin, the black bear.

That’s right: polar bears have black skin!

Don’t believe me? Here’s a clue: check out their noses and foot pads. They’re both black. Their thick fur so completely hides the blackness underneath that you’d never know it’s there.

Not only that, but polar bears’ fur isn’t actually white.

Pardon me?

It’s true! Their outer coat of fur consists of translucent hollow hairs that scatter and reflect visible light. These hairs have no white pigment, but merely appear white due to an optical trick involving the physics of light.

The polar bears certainly had us fooled, didn’t they?

And they’re not the only ones.

There are people whose lives have been so thoroughly changed by the gospel of Christ that you’d be shocked to discover their dark past.

People like evangelist Nicky Cruz. For over half a century he has ministered to tens of millions of people around the world, sharing with them the good news of Jesus Christ.

And yet he started out as a ruthless gang leader in New York City, embroiled in a life of crime.

But Nicky reflects the light of Jesus so thoroughly now that you’d never guess at what darkness lies in his past. The forgiveness he received through.

Jesus completely hides the blackness underneath. You’d simply never guess it has been there at all.

Or take the disciple Peter in the Bible. Peter failed spectacularly by denying Christ not once, not twice, but three times.

And yet after the Resurrection, Jesus so thoroughly restored him that Peter became a powerhouse in spreading the gospel. There was no longer any inkling that he’d once been a Christ-denier. You’d simply never dream it could have been possible. The radiance of the Christ-light Peter reflected far outshone the black parts of his past.

Jesus can do the same for you.

His atoning sacrifice on the Cross so completely covers our sins that people would never guess at what had once been underneath.

Jesus can so change your life through His forgiveness and love that the blackness of your past is obliterated, and all people see is the light and life of Christ reflected in you.

It’s like they’re looking at a polar bear and assume it’s a white animal.

The sins that once defined your past have been forgiven and forgotten by God, and all people see now is the glorious white covering Jesus gave you!

“Come now, let’s 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.”

isaiah 1:18

© 2024 Lori J. Cartmell. All rights reserved.