The Shepherd's Voice

WHITE AS SNOW

Broken, ugly, cast aside, no longer wanted or useful.  No, not people!  That old beach umbrella, the barbeque grill that’s burned out, the kids toys left in the backyard, a pile of bricks that you have never got around to moving.  Stuff that reminds you that things need tidying up.  Then you looked out and thought that you saw  something white fall.  As you looked, you spotted another white flake, then another.  Soon, it didn’t matter if it was brown, tan, green, or orange.  Everything turned white.   The outdoor furniture, the garbage can, the blooming yellow daffodils, the red camellia blooms.  Everything had a white blanket.  Even the trees bowed to their white coat on their branches.  Cold, silent, and beautiful.  Everything was treated the same. Covered in whiteness.

Isaiah says, “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…”, 1:18.  David says in Ps. 51:7, “Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.  Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.”  You see, God does not make us clean, and when troubles and temptations come, the “snow” melts away, and our true selves are seen.  No, God says, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered”,  Rom. 4:7.  God never jerks off the covers or melts the “snow”.   “But I still have faults and sins and problems.”  That’s what prayer  and forgiveness are for.  “But I know that I  don’t deserve this”.   That’s what grace is for.  “But you don’t understand my struggles.”   That’s what mercy and compassion and help is for.


We look and see, “The bed is too short on which to stretch out, and the blanket is too narrow to wrap oneself in”, Is. 28:20.   Our sins hedge us in and make life uncomfortable.  But God said that with His blood, He bought us, Rom. 5:9; He cleanses us, 1 Jn. 1:7; He washes us, Rev. 1:5.  We’re covered!!!


The snow melts and the ugliness reappears in this world.  That’s why that this world is not our home.  As we walk with Jesus, Jesus has us covered, “holy and blameless, and beyond reproach”, Col. 1:22.  So, who or what has you covered?

Don Riddle

 


Being Your Best Self - Michael Ledbetter