“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” – Isaiah 1:18
After the big snowstorms of November and December, I wouldn’t blame you if you were done with all of this snow. I read that the Buffalo area averages about 99 inches of snow per season, and we had already hit that average by the start of January, with much more snow to come. But I’m one of those strange people who prefers snow to rain. Part of the reason for this, for me, is that rain tends to make things muddy, wet and messy in a way that snow just doesn’t. There is something beautiful about falling snow as it lights up the air all around.
One of the benefits of fresh snow is that it covers up the mud and dirty snow that has accumulated over the past weeks. This reminds me of a truth from the Bible, from the Old Testament book of Isaiah, where God says, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow.”
Snow, then, takes for us an additional meaning. It draws us to one of the great promises of God, in which he offers us forgiveness of sin. This is such a comfort for sinful people like you and me. Although we are stained by our own guilt and sin, stained so deep that we cannot wash it away ourselves, God promises to wash us clean, make us white, white as snow.
Looking out of the window as I write this, it is snowing. Freshly fallen, white snow is covering up dirt, and footprints and leaves from the fall. All I see is smooth and white. It is uncontaminated. Because of Jesus, our Savior, that’s what God sees when he looks at us. He does not see the times we have disobeyed him or broken his commandments. He doesn’t see when we have neglected to do the good we ought to have done and have failed to do. He sees us as clean and pure. He sees the hard-won grace of Jesus reflected in us.
Yes, even though we may be tired of the snow, it is a helpful reminder of the grace we have in Jesus Christ.
God’s Blessings,
Pastor Nyck