The window near the teacher’s desk was open. Outside, the children were amusing themselves in different ways until the hell should ring to call them in. A group of girls under Miss Smith’s open window were asking riddles. Presently a dear girl named Mary joined the group.
“I have a riddle,” she said.
“What is it, Mary?” they all cried. “What is whiter than snow?”
“O, I know,” said Beth, “a piece of white linen.”
“No.” said Mary.
“Well, then, the white of an egg beaten till it is foamy and stiff,” suggested another.
“Not right,” said Mary.
“A beautiful, fleecy cloud,” cried a third.
Still that was not the answer. Then a fourth attempt was made, “A pile of wool, freshly washed and carded?”
“Still not right,” said Mary.
Inside Miss Smith was trying to solve the riddle too, but she could not think of anything whiter than snow.
At last, after several more unsuccessful attempts the girls “gave up.”
“What is it, Mary?”
“It is a sinner, washed in Jesus’ blood. That is the whitest thing on earth.”
Mary was a Christian and knew what it is to have her sins washed away in Jesus’ blood. Miss Smith was a child of God, too, and felt ashamed that she had not been able to guess Mary’s riddle.
In Psa. 51 David prayed,
“Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”
How gleaming white and pure the snow is in our picture yet its dazzling purity but faintly tells us how perfectly spotless is that one who is washed in the Saviour’s blood.
ML 02/17/1946