We just got a fresh dusting of snow here in Pennsylvania. It was the first of this winter, and, although light, simply gorgeous. I squealed in the car when I spotted the first flake. Our sweet rescue dog from Alabama was quickly introduced to the white fluff, much to his confusion.

I love how the white of the snow can stand out against every color – every tree, every house, every bit of the sky.

You know the phrase, right? It comes from Isaiah 1:18:

“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”

Those words stir up more wonder than the first snow of the winter. I don’t know about you, but my heart can be colder toward righteousness and the goodness of the Lord than the frozen ground outside.

My sin is like scarlet…red like crimson. Like the color of clothes put through the washing machine with a brand new, bright red sweater. Stained permanently.

Or, red like tint of the dirt in the ground and the leaves rotting there. Red like the bricks of the homes around here and the sunset in the sky. The red blends in, it’s normal. But white…white is striking. It stands out.

That’s how the redemption of the Lord is: hard to miss. Glistening. In stark contrast to what just is –the sin nature, the purity of the Lord like the white of the snow stirs up wonder and awe.

Only our Savior can thaw and warm hearts with something like snow.

For being a sign that the trees and grass are dead and the earth is frozen still, snow really is beautiful.

Only our Savior can use symbols of death, of endings, to make new beginnings.

His redemption, like snow, takes the mess and the mud and deems it worthy of rest. Worthy of redressing with shimmering, white snow. Worthy of being transformed to reflect His perfect light.

Thank the Lord for the snow.