Let It Snow!

"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
   wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
 Let me hear joy and gladness;
   let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
 Hide your face from my sins
   and blot out all my iniquity." Psalm 51:7-9

I have almost always loved the snow in winter. I'm writing this while looking out the window at the snow covered ground. I know this is not an opinion shared by a lot of people, but they can write their own blog about how much they hate snow. I love looking out the window at a snow covered vista, not when it's on the road, but I can handle that since I do have a four wheel drive vehicle.

But I digress...

The thing I like most about freshly fallen snow is how clean it looks. And I love that the snow can cover over even the grossest, most dreary looking landscape and make it look fresh and new again. The psalm writer uses imagery like this, but I think it goes even deeper than snow just covering up something bad.

As I said, snow can cover up dreary looking landscapes, a fresh snow can cover up old, slushy, gray/black snow that's full of salt and pebbles and make it look fresh and new. The grace of God can do that for us too, but in a much different way, a way that doesn't just cover up the sins, but takes those sins away. Sure, we remember them, we are sometimes even ashamed by past sins, but the love of God and the sacrifice of His son means that those sins are forgiven, in God's mind, they are no more.

And, while I think it's important to learn from our past sins, and make sure we don't make those mistakes again, I really don't feel that we need to be ashamed of those sins. I think that's just Satan trying to stray our minds away from the love of Christ, and the desire to do His will from now on. I once heard a radio pastor explain it the best I've heard it, he said, "Satan reminds you of your past, Christ deals with your future."

So, enjoy the snow, let it remind you of what Christ has done or can do in your life.