“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51.7)
What a beautiful sentiment. For this article, set aside the thoughts of the temperature associated frozen-flakes and just concentrate on the snow itself. With a nice blanket of snow everything seems so clean. All the little rocks are hidden. That bare patch where nothing grows is as pristine as every other place. There are no discolorations or graffiti, just a blanket of white. Clean.
Conversely, things that are not covered stick out like a sore thumb. The words from the above Psalm relate being cleansed by God to being “whiter than snow”. (We also sing a song of the same sentiment) But, when everything is white and that one thing is not, it is easy to see.
Christians measure themselves against the example of the Christ. Since He is perfect, completely clean, we can see the things in our lives that are not. Oh, how people love to point out when a follower of Jesus is not perfect! In one sense, they are correct. We strive for Christ-like perfection. However, we will not be perfect- and we should not expect ourselves to be. No, we should not be content to fail, but when we do fail, we should not be surprised.
A wonderful thing about things that are in contrast to the snow is that they are easy to identify. What is that colloquialism? –“knowing is half the battle”. When you identify the problems that exist in your life you can begin to remove them. The goal is to be covered by Him, to look like Him. Clean.
It is the blood of Jesus that washes us clean. It is His perfection that covers us- like a blanket of snow. Underneath are the rocks, the bare spots, the imperfections; but He is perfect. When you look at my life, I want you to see Him. I want you to see His forgiveness bringing peace to a sinner’s soul. The sins in my life need to be removed so that, He can shine whiter than snow in me.
Altering the metaphor; if you are not a Christian then become one today. Let Jesus make you clean: “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)