White As Snow

March is upon us and with it comes warmer weather. To say I am ready would be an understatement! It has definitely been the longest winter I have experienced and most certainly the whitest one. I guess that's what happens when you move from Texas to Massachusetts!

This winter, though long and grueling at times, has brought great spiritual refreshment. Last Saturday, we went to bed with dark brown, frozen piles of snow everywhere. For those of you who have never lived near snow, you haven't experienced this. The snow falls, the snow piles, the snow freezes, and then the snow turns brown...sometimes black. Then, fresh snow falls and covers what was once disgusting and dirty. It's quite the transformation. In fact, you almost forget that under the white, fluffy snow lies a hard, black pile of ice.

I can't help but draw a lesson from this. I have heard and often sung the words of Isaiah 1:18, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." Never before has this verse come alive to me like it did this winter. Isaiah gives us a striking image of what Christ has done for us. Much like the dark, hard piles of ice, our hearts are darkened and hardened against Christ. And, as Isaiah says, our sins scream guilt. Then, God's grace comes to us like a fresh coating of snow, only his covering extends into the deepest parts of our soul and our entire being is made clean. We are no longer dark and hard, but new and clean.

I needed to be reminded of that today. Praise Jesus that my sins are white as snow. He is my secure hope and I will trust in him.