Fresh Snow

Submitted by Roger Carswell on Tue, 05/01/2021 - 22:01

“Come now, and 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 be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18

I love the little poem written by Louise Tarkington:

I wish there were some wonderful place

In the land of Beginning Again

Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches

And all our poor selfish grief

Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door

And never put on again.

Do you ever, like me, wish you could have an action replay on your life, but this time you would act very differently? It would be nice to have a fresh start on life. Well, there is a place of beginning again. It is called Calvary. It is the place where Jesus died on the cross and carried our sin.

On a winter’s night in Horsforth, some years ago I found myself unable to sleep. About three o’clock in the morning I got out of bed and leaned against the windowsill to watch the stillness of our little cul-de-sac in the early hours of a new day.

We were thick in snow, and a blizzard was still blowing. Then from the nearby woods emerged a beautiful red fox. It sniffed around a number of our neighbours' gardens before wandering around ours. The next morning I went to examine the fox tracks. To my disappointment, they had all been covered by the fresh snow which had continued to fall through the night.

Musing on the incident I thought of Isaiah 1:18. Jesus suffered and shed His blood as He carried our sins on the cross. Today, He is still willing to cover them all and make us, in His sight, white as snow. Isn’t that wonderful?!

Father, I have wandered from Thee,

Often has my heart gone astray;

Crimson do my sins seem to me:

Water cannot wash them away.

Jesus to the Fountain of Thine,

Leaning on Thy promises I go,

Cleanse me by Thy washing divine,

And I shall be whiter than snow. Amen