Snow

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow...”

Our first winter snowstorm blew into Chicago this morning. Beautiful! There is just something about snow isn’t there?

Every since I was a kid I longed for snowstorms. I was disappointed to hear that we were only going to get 8-10 inches today; I want three feet!

Is I stood outside and watched our neighborhood turn into a winter wonderland I marveled at how White the snow was. Brilliant White!

These words came to my mind: “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow...”

There’s nothing like snow, especially newly fallen snow, it’s wonderfully clean, pure, and White!

Interestingly I spent some time this past semester at Moody Graduate School talking about bible translation. I talked to a missionary that spent time working with a people group on a Caribbean island who did not have a bible in their own language. The translator specifically mentioned that instead of translating Isaiah 1.18 as “they shall be as white as snow...” they chose to translate the verse as “they shall be as white as the inside of a coconut.”

 I was immediately half offended!

 I realize that people group would probably never see snow, at least not on their Caribbean island, but their translation just took something away from the idea of our sins being “as white as snow...”

 There’s just something about snow.

 But even better than the cleanliness, the purity, and the wonderful white-ness of new fallen snow is the cleanliness, the purity, and the wonderful RED-ness of Christ’s blood which He shed on the cross to make our sinfulness as clean, pure, and white before God the Father as new fallen snow!

 Blessed be the Name of the Lord!