| “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). |
| I live in Canada, where snow is common in winter, and most of Canada gets quite cold in winter. Some parts are colder than others, of course. Around the Great Lakes, and especially Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, the climate is milder, because of the warming effect of the lakes. Also in southwestern British Columbia the climate is milder, because of the Japan Current in the Pacific Ocean. But in other regions of Canada it can get very cold in winter. |
| Two days ago we received almost 50 cm. of snow; that is more than 20 inches. It slowed everything down, but most people were able to get to work, as the snowplows did their job well, and most of the roads were clear. Today several more inches of snow fell. |
| Snow is very white and beautiful when it falls, and the whole landscape looks clean and nice at first. But then, as snowplows begin to move it away, and the road crews put salt and sand on the roads, it does not look quite so pretty. Then of course people walk on it, and again, it is not as beautiful as before. |
| Snow is mentioned a number of times in the Bible, mostly in the Old Testament. Sometimes people got leprosy, and their skin looked white, like snow. In another place Job mentions the “treasures of the snow.” I am not sure what he was referring to, but in some parts of the world they depend on heavy snowfall in the mountains, which then melts as spring and summer arrive, and supplies water for those living in the valleys. For those people, a good “snowcap” is a real treasure. |
| But then the Lord says that when we come to Christ, our sins will be as white as snow. White in the Bible speaks of purity, and when our sins are washed away by the blood of Christ, we are as white as snow. David goes a step further in Psalm 51:7, when he says to the Lord, “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Even though we may have committed some serious sins, the blood of Christ can make us perfectly fit for God’s presence. |
