Snow

I’m not a big fan of snow.  To me, snow represents cold.  It represents winter.  It represents shoveling…all things that I really don’t enjoy much.  I live in Canada, though, so it is something that I have to put up with every year.  When I woke up this morning, I looked out the window to see that the ground was covered in the stuff.

On the other hand, I have some young boys who love snow.  To them, it is snowmen, snowball fights, sledding, and everything else that is fun!

I have to admit, though, that even though I’m not a big fan of the stuff, it is pretty!  Perhaps the best thing about snow is the instant transformation that it gives to the world.  It doesn’t matter how messy or dirty a yard is, a few centimeters of snow makes it appear clean, fresh and new.

This clean and fresh look is possibly why The Psalmist used the imagery of snow in Psalm 51

	For I know my transgressions,
		and my sin is ever before me.
	Against you, you only, have I sinned
		and done what is evil in your sight,
	so that you may be justified in your words
		and blameless in your judgment.
	Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
		and in sin did my mother conceive me.
	Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
		and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
	Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
		wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
(Psalm 51:3-7 ESV)

We’ve all messed up. We’re all “dirty” from the things that we’ve done. We’re all in need of cleaning. I’m thankful that we have a God who is willing to wash away our sins! Unlike a blanket of snow, God does not merely cover up our sins…he gets rid of them completely. Like the appearance of fresh-fallen snow, we are made clean when we allow Christ to cleanse us.

Imagine a messy yard filled with rusting old cars, huge weeds, animal droppings and muck.  In our sinful condition, that’s about how “clean” we appear.  But now imagine that yard the day after a huge snow-fall.  The sun shines down on fresh white, sparkling snow.  The visual assault of the mess of that yard is completely covered by the new snow.  Now imagine that when the snow melts, that yard no longer has the rusted old cars…the muck and weeds and all other un-cleaness are gone, and in their place is a luscious green lawn with beds of sweet smelling flowers in neat tidy beds.

When God washes us clean, we are clean!  The filth of our old lives is taken away completely.  I’m not saying that we become perfect…even the best Christian still sins…but we are forgiven.  Basically, our guilt is taken away instead of constantly accumulating.

This is one reason that, even though I’m not a big fan of snow, I still see some benefit…it reminds us of God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ.  The old is gone…we are made fresh and new!