So I have always loved the imagery behind the verse that says he will wash our sins whiter than snow found in Psalm 51:7
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Psalms 51:7 NIV
It’s a beautiful picture of how God cleanses us. So as I sit here on this cold New England day, it made me think of that verse again. I thought I’d take it one step further because the snow is beautiful, a white blanket over a cold ground. The trees are dusted with ice crystals and large white flakes are falling from the sky. It’s picturesque as everything that is brown and green is now sprinkled with white. ????
But there’s another image that comes after a fresh snowfall. It’s one thing to look out at the snow as we are sipping our hot cocoa ? and cozy with a blanket. Maybe we have a fireplace ?roaring or a candle lit,??maybe we are wearing fuzzy socks, Maybe we’re listening to music or just simply doing the dishes, knowing that there’s nowhere we are going today because we are snowed in. However, there is another image that comes with this New England snow that is not so picturesque…
After the snow falls and we have shoveled ourselves out of our driveway. We take our cars out the next day and all of a sudden as we’re driving we’re looking at this once beautiful picture of pure white and the snow is brown, gray and trampled on. There are dogs peeing on it and all of a sudden this white beautiful snowy picture we had the day before becomes this gray bleak scene of dirt and grime snow piles. Combine the dirty snow with salt covered cars and the beauty fades quickly.
But for anyone who’s been around snow, there is generally more than one snowstorm. One night you will be looking at that snow mound in your driveway that is gray with gravel in it and the next day another storm runs through and covers everything making it white again, clean again. Just like that first snowfall before all the grime and the soot and the gravel and pee entered the scene. This picture reminded me a little bit about sin and it’s role in our lives.
When we are saved the blood of Christ washes us white as snow. We are clean, whiter than snow, just as that ground was that very first snowfall. But we are also still human. Even though we’ve been covered by the perfect blood of Christ we are still going to make mistakes. We are still going to sin. So we might be seeing the sin in our life like the dirt and grime that builds up after a couple weeks when the snow hasn’t melted yet. Maybe we think now that we’re saved we shouldn’t sin, or I have been a Christian for so long how did I make that mistake again? After we sin we tend to be very hard on ourselves, and we think there’s no way we’re still washed clean like that first snowfall. We may even go to the extreme and wonder if we are saved anymore or maybe God doesn’t love us anymore because of the sin in our life. We can only see the dirty snow.
But looking at the dirt, the sin and the unclean snow is not the place to continually focus. The reminder is found in knowing that if we confess our sins to God he hears them and forgives them over and over.
So the initial snow happens when we are saved. We are washed whiter than snow by Christ’s death on the cross. After we are saved we will continue to sin. The dirt and grime is going to arise in our lives at various points. But that grime is going to land on the clean snow of salvation. That sin might distract us. It might control us for a time, it might take us off course. It might depress us and make us sad or discouraged. But don’t be discouraged because as we acknowledge our sin and ask for forgiveness, in that moment of confession I want you to imagine another snowstorm coming in, covering over that sin. Reminding you that the blood of Christ has covered past sin as well as present sin and you are covered in redemption and made white as snow over and over again. All day and every day Christ will wash you white as snow no matter the sin that you personally struggle with. As we confess our sins he is faithful to forgive us over and over again from the sin in our life. Each time He forgives us that pure white blanket is going to cover over the dirt, the grime we don’t want people to know about. The sin that we hide. We can never hide from God, so if you have sin in your life that you need to confess, say it outloud. Let him wash you white as snow today. And if you have never asked Him into your heart, ask Him to save you today; admit that you need Him, ask him to forgive you and be washed whiter than snow today.
The Lord Bless you and Keep you,
Kara
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