“WELL, here is the snow at last,” said I, as I looked through the window of my cottage one morning in the middle of December. The snow had fallen heavily during the night, and had laid a coating on the earth of some inches in depth; and, as we looked upon it from the inside of the house, it formed a very pleasing sight. It was seen in all the beauty of its first whiteness, untarnished by any influence of the atmosphere, or by any other cause. Even my little girl, who is less than three years old, was delighted, and made her childish remarks upon it. At the back of my house is a field, over which there is no traffic: so that there the snow remains unsullied and unspotted for a much longer time than would be the case on the road. I hope that my young friends derive pleasure from looking at the many works of God which are all around us. The Psalmist says, “The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.” He also says, “I meditate on all Thy works; I muse on the work of Thy hands.” And in the gospels we find that the Lord Jesus, in His many beautiful and instructive parables, made constant allusion to the works of God, as illustrations of the lessons and doctrines which He taught. The young are generally interested in looking at beautiful objects; and where can they see anything so beautiful as in the wonderful works of God? And, if they acquire a taste for the pleasures which the observation of those works affords (Ps. 111:2), they will be less likely to be carried away by the many vanities and foolish sights which offer their attractions, in order to keep them from Christ, in Whom alone “pleasures for evermore” are to be found.
It is written in the book of Job, chap. 37, “He (that is, God) saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth.” So that we see that a fall of snow comes from God. He, who is the Giver of every good and of every perfect gift, sends the snow as a blessing to the earth, which is thus covered and protected by it during the cold weather, somewhat in the same way as we are by our warm clothing. The water of melted snow, too, is very penetrating, and contributes to the nourishment of the precious seeds which lie hidden in the earth, but which, in due time, will spring up for the benefit both of man and beast. One of the questions which the Lord asked Job was, “Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?” Surely, we may say, “THE LORD IS GOOD TO ALL: AND HIS TENDER MERCIES ARE OVER ALL HIS WORKS.” Psalms 145:99The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. (Psalm 145:9). “O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! in wisdom Thou past made them all: the earth is full of Thy riches.” (Psalm 104).
There are also some passages in the Scriptures which refer to snow as an emblem of whiteness and purity. There is that sweet and well known one in the first chapter of Isaiah, where the Lord, speaking to His people Israel, says, “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Now, what can make scarlet and crimson sins as white as snow, and as dean as wool; but the precious blood of Christ? David, too, says in the 51St Psalm, addressing God, “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Yes, the soul that is washed in that blood is indeed “whiter than snow.” Has your soul, dear child, been thus washed? I trust that it has; and it has, if you have really trusted in Jesus as your own Saviour. What a beautiful word that is in the first epistle of John. “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” But only those who have believed in Christ can truly say this, as applying to themselves. That, too, is a fine hymn of praise to Jesus Christ, in Revelation 1, “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and bath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” I pray that the young reader may be enabled to sing this song in spirit and in truth now, while he is in this world, so that he may continue it in heaven for evermore, in company with all who have believed in the blessed name of Jesus.
ML 01/21/1906