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| A snow-covered tree in my front yard early this morning. |
The area's first snowfall of the season greets us in a big way as we arise from sleep this morning.
The stillness of the morning is beautiful as I look out over my yard with various colors of Christmas lights glowing under a fresh blanket of the snow.
New snow is so white that it can reflect the smallest amount of light and make the nighttime seem brighter than it would be without the snow.
God's artistic majesty is again at work before our eyes and we are thankful to be able to witness the peace and serenity it has produced in the pre-dawn hours.
Let us pause and admire the beauty.
In a short while, it will be time to trudge out in the snow with shovel in hand and scrap a path to my vehicle for my commute to the office. It's not something I look forward too, but it's a necessity.
For now, I just want to soak in the quietness, the cold and silent beauty of what I see as I look out the window. I wish this time could linger, but life's busy nature will make this only a brief encounter this morning.
Snowflakes continue to fall and the view of the landscape remains in a state of change as the hand of God is painting us a new image before our eyes.
Snow provokes memories that reach right back to childhood, when life was simpler and problems were few.
There were snowmen, snow castles and snow forts constructed and snowball fights enjoyed until the sun and higher temperatures rendered them into puddles of water and mud with only memories of how much fun was produced.
I came across a wonderful piece written by Isaiah Reid in February 1897 called “Beautiful Snow” that sums up the heavenly majesty of snow. He wrote:
“It came so softly, so silently, and free from wind or extra cold, that one did not know it was falling except as it was seen from the window, or one chanced to be on the street. It dusted everything with whiteness. Then it fringed and draped and robed every ungainly thing and the tiniest spear of grass, or dead and dried summer vine in the trellis, with ornament of purity. Then the air cooled and the clouds cleared, and the angels commissioned the northern breeze to pass high in the air, not touching a single spot on the beautiful picture, but showering from the upper air, as it passed through, millions of frost crystals to bedeck and bespangle this vesture of such wondrous whiteness. When the sun arose everything was glorified. The most common thing on the landscape seemed to have a voice and new significance.
The Bible also talks about snow – in conveying the message of purity and being free from sin.
We read in Matthew 28:3, “His appearance was like lightning, and his garments as white as snow.”
The Bible talks about how filthy or tarnished we are because of our sins. Some verses describe our sinful nature as being red or scarlet, indicating the necessity of a blood sacrifice to pay for our sins. Then the Scriptures talk about how our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior will wash our sins away and make us as white as snow, indicating how clean and pure that faith will make us.
One such verse is Isaiah 1:18 which says: ““Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”
The Bible not only talks about snow, but does so in three different ways. It talks about the cold stuff of winter. It is used to describe how white something like clothing can be. Most importantly, snow is used to describe how clean our sins will be when they are washed clean by Christ’s blood when we confess our sins and believe in Him as our Lord and Savior.
Next time you look at the snowflakes gently dropping from heaven, blanketing earth in its white embrace, remember that you are witnessing God's creative and powerful hand at work on nature.
These morning messages are now available by email. Simply write me with you email address at schneider.nick@gmail.com, and I'll be happy to forward them to your in-box.
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