As White as Snow

After a recent heavy snowfall I awoke early and marvelled at the beauty of freshly fallen snow. Everything looked so clean, so beautiful and so pure. The whole town was transformed into a perfect picture-book scene. Such images bring to life the scripture from Isaiah 1:18. The white blanket of snow offered a stark contrast to the grey roads and the littered pavements I’m so used to. It was almost disorientating.

The contrast of God’s forgiveness against the greyness of our sin is also stark. We can find it hard to accept. We know our own guilt and we know the depth of our own sinful natures. Whilst God Himself, through the Cross of Jesus, renders our sins as white as snow, we sometimes can’t let them go.

The beauty I saw early that morning was soon destroyed by the ploughs that were sent to clear the roads. Away went the snowy perfection as the grey roads became exposed and the grit used to treat them defiled the purity of the surrounding snow.

For those of us who find forgiveness hard to accept, we’re good at exposing those familiar dark roads again. We can fall back into the same old pattern of sin. It’s become so habitual we feel we’re out of control without it. Or we can hold ourselves into a life full of regret, guilt and shame because we believe we’re not worthy of such purity. In essence we push God’s amazing gift of forgiveness away to keep what is familiar and seems to be ‘safe’.

The beginning of this verse is the bit that speaks to me so deeply, “Come now, let us reason together.” He wants to talk with us about our sins, our fears, our guilt, our regrets. He wants to talk about it, and listen to what we feel about our sin; how we may even fear to let go of it. He wants to reason with us. He wants us to know how amazingly big He is, how big His love is and how big His forgiveness is. More importantly, He wants us to know that NO sin is bigger than Him. The only thing that can prevent His forgiveness from covering our sins forever is our response to His wonderful gift, bought with the blood of His own Son, Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You died that I can be forgiven of all my sins. Help me to let go of my own regrets and forgive myself for the sins that I am holding on to. Help me to be honest with You about how I feel about my sin, so that we can talk together and I can truly find freedom in Your perfect forgiveness. Amen.