“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 1:18

Being the snow lover that I am, I delighted in our most recent winter storm.  While far from the largest snow, it was the most we’ve received in a couple of years and more than enough to blanket everything in a beautiful coating of white.  It was a slow process that took most of the day, so slow you almost couldn’t see it happening.  But surely enough, as the hours ticked by, the world was transformed into a beautiful winter wonderland.

As I watched the snow falling and the slow transformation of everything, I thought of the passage from Isaiah quoted above.  No matter how deep our sins, God’s grace will cover them like snow.  Isaiah uses the color red for sin because “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Heb 9:22).  The more crimson the color, the worse the sin.  And yet, no matter how crimson our sins might be, they’ve all been paid for, atoned for, by the shed blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Our souls are made as pure white as a fresh snowfall.

But we aren’t finished with our sin, are we? Even though our forgiveness and salvation are assured, as long as we’re on this side of Glory, we continue to wrestle with our sinful nature.  As Martin Luther famously said, “We are at once justified and sinful.”  Our journey with Jesus is a journey of becoming ever more sanctified (which means holy, or more like Jesus) and ever less sinful.  Sometimes we make great strides toward holiness, sometimes we slide back into our sins.  It’s a process, a journey, and it takes time.  Kind of like how it takes time for the world to turn white while the snow falls.

When the snow first started, the ground was still fairly warm.  Most of the snow melted immediately.  In fact, a lot of the snow melted before the ground cooled enough for the snow to begin to stick.  The tree branches were the first to collect the snow, but roads took a lot longer, and even when the snow began to stick, the roads first turned to a mushy grey.  Puddles in the yard where the already melted snow collected held out for as long as they could, but even they eventually froze and were covered over with snow.  Yet the snow was persistent and relentless, persevering until all was remade under a beautiful white blanket.

It is the Holy Spirit that is restoring our souls, one day at a time, moment by moment.  Just like the snowfall, the Holy Spirit is persistent and relentless with you.  Often, you might not notice that anything is changing at all.  But over time, as we continue to walk with the Lord in faithfulness and pursue Him in all things, we’ll begin to notice that we aren’t who we used to be, that our soul is gradually becoming more and more pure and white.  Set your mind and your heart on the things of God, and freely confess your sins — old, new, even the repeats —so He can “purge you with hyssop” so you can “hear joy and gladness” in your soul. 

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. — Psalm 51:7-8

Blessings,

Rev. David Garrison