“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” Isaiah 1:18.
How lovely the new snowfall looks. Every ugly place now is beautiful, hidden under a fresh, white blanket. The above verse is like a picture of our sins, which keep us from God. It invites everyone to hear how their sins may be made “white as snow.” Many Bible verses explain this. One of them is “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7. The Lord Jesus Christ gave His life and shed His blood on the cross so that the scarlet stain of sin may now be removed. All who come to Him as repentant sinners, believing that the Lord Jesus has borne God’s judgment that would otherwise fall on them, and accepting the Lord Jesus as his or her Saviour, can be as “white as snow” before God. Are you among those who have done this?
It is always snowing somewhere, and about one fourth of the world is permanently covered with snow. Glaciers and icebergs all begin as snow which builds up and is pressed into ice by its own weight. Some of these glaciers are more than two miles thick. Snowflakes are transparent ice crystals that have formed high in the sky. Their whiteness results from light reflecting from their many facets. Each flake is a wonderful display of God’s delight in making things of beauty. Ninety-six varieties and shapes of snowflakes have been classified, nearly all being hexagonal (six-sided), and no two identical ones have ever been found. What a wonderful Creator the Lord God is!
We think of snow as being very cold, but to many animals and insects it is a warm blanket. Insulated under it and safely hidden from enemies, mice, ground squirrels, porcupines, some birds and other small creatures make snug, warm homes. One, a little coney called the pika, not only has comfortable rooms under the snow connected by tunnels, but also has a runway to a nearby “barn” where, during summer months, it stored a good supply of food. Many insects also keep active with hidden runways taking them to feeding grounds underneath the snow. It is helpful to some larger animals as well. For instance, deer and rabbits benefit as the snow gets deeper, because it helps them to reach foliage and buds of trees that had been too high for them before. Isn’t it wonderful how the Lord thinks about these creatures all through the year?
One snowflake (many times lighter than a raindrop) seems so small, but multiplied by millions they provide a storehouse of water in hot summer months—another provision of the Creator for all. On the other hand, too much snow can cause a disaster on some occasions. The habits of every person are like this. At first the habits do not seem like serious matters, but, depending if they are good or bad, repeated over and over they may become a real blessing or things of harm to ourselves and others.
Being aware of this we can pray, “Teach me Thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path.” “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Psalms 27:11 and 51:7. The Lord will gladly answer such prayers.
ML-02/19/1984