A Verse To Chew On - Let it Snow!

Today is our first real snow day of the season! The girls are thrilled...they both prayed for snow last night. It looks beautiful. The sun was starting to come up as I was returning from dropping my daughters at school, and even though the sunrise was blocked by snow clouds, the light it brought made the new snow glisten like it was full of fairy dust. Later today, when I need to run errands, it might be a nuisance, but right now as I look at it from my office window, it is glorious!

Winter in Idaho, with it's naked trees, subfreezing temperatures, (it's 18 degrees as I write this), and gray skies lacks the beauty of the winters in California that I grew up with. But I tell you what, on snowy days like this I wouldn't trade this beauty in Idaho for all the palm trees in Southern California. There is something so fresh and clean and beautiful about the snow that really speaks to my soul.

There is a verse in the Bible that does the same...

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7

This psalm was penned by David - a man after God's heart...but it was penned after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba. I am sure that the reality of David's sin had left his soul feeling as cold, naked and gray as a winter day in Idaho. And yet David turned to God, crying out for His mercy and forgiveness. David's reference to hyssop in this verse speaks of the blood of the sacrificial lamb of passover. He knew by faith that He could trust in this provision from God to cleanse him from his sin and leave him a clean and fresh as the new fallen snow.

Jesus is our passover Lamb...the cleansing power from God for our sins. As we approach the celebration of His birth we may be feeling the effects of living life in a fallen world. We may have unconfessed sin in our life, or be suffering from the effects of someone else's sin and feel bleak and gray as a winter day in the North-west. But, if we turn to Jesus and confess our sins, heartaches, fears and failures He alone can cleanse us and make us as fresh as new fallen snow.

Last night my teenage daughters prayed for snow. Today, as you chew on this verse, won't you join me in praying for a Divine snow storm either in your life or in the lives of those you know to be hurting?