Our community has experienced a significant snow fall this past week. Before the snow began falling my farm was a muddy mess. We had received lots of rain and the yard was soft and muddy. The barn lot was filthy with animals plodding around sinking in mud. But then the snow hit. The snow covered all the brown grass, puddles of water, and muddy ground. The snow took all the ugliness away and bestowed a crystal white adornment across my entire farm. It is beautiful.
This reminds me of Isaiah 1:18.
““Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
Isaiah had just described the ugliness of Israel’s sins. He calls them a “sinful nation” which is “laden with sin.” (1:4). He goes on to figuratively describe Israel’s condition as a raw wound from their head to their feet that is not bandaged or treated. They are ugly! Their sins are abundant and easy to see. Their moral condition is repulsive. But if they will turn back to God he will cover their ugliness. He will make their sins as white as snow!
What a glorious thought to look out at the snow and realize that our sins can be covered. We can become pure through the redemption and love of God.
But, I know what you are thinking; snow doesn’t stay pure and white long. Snow can become dirty and nasty too. Snow becomes dirty when we contaminate its purity. Or when we drive over it and uncover the ugliness beneath. This is similar to our lives as well. If we have our sins and ugliness covered, we need to seek to let the ugliness stay buried. Paul would teach us in Romans 6, that we should not dig up the old man of sin we buried. We must not go back to walking in the old ways. Our lives can become ugly again if we continue to practice the old sins. We must seek purity and walking in the love of Christ (1 John 1:7).
1 comment
Good Points!