I sit at my desk watching the snow rapidly accumulate. It sounds like this will be a storm for the ages as some experts predict as much as a foot and a half will fall! In just a few short hours our world has changed into what it’s meant to be. It has become both beautiful and fun. The beauty is breath-taking, and now every square-foot has been transformed into a place of play. For my kids, the excitement of opening gifts may wane in the face of so much snow to frolic and sled in. What a gift on Christmas!
It is the perfect reminder of God’s gift to us on the first Christmas. In Christ, God gives us the gift of soul-snow. Just as the snow outside has turned a dull and dirty world of drudgery into a winter-wonderland of white beauty, God’s grace likewise transforms our broken sinful lives into something free of blemish and full of fun. The guilt, shame, fear, and bondage that plagues our emotional and spiritual lives is covered with a blanket of beauty. The world that seems overwhelmed with busyness and to-do lists is transformed into a playground. Peace and joy take over as walking across our front yard becomes a playful activity. This is the effect that God intends Christ to have in our lives.
““Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18 ESV)
In Christ, our sins are cleansed and covered, and we become beautiful and joy-filled. God’s grace falls down like flakes of healing on past wounds and sinful habits. Like the snowy world around us we are transformed into something new, something both beautiful and fun.
I hope you have a Merry Christmas. I hope that God’s gift of snow will serve as a reminder to each of us of the life transforming soul-snow that he gave on the first Christmas.
Originally posted on the New City Covenant Church Blog with image from flickr.