Last week we had the most beautiful yard in our neighborhood. Pure, white, picture-perfect. Well, at least our yard was as pretty as anyone else’s. The seven-inch blanket of snow that descended onto our street provided a sparkling covering that concealed weeds, bare spots, aging bushes, rocky soil and other horticultural flaws.
Changed from a landscaper’s nightmare to a winter wonderland, all at the drop of a snowflake.
The Bible offers a similar observation about snow. If we’re honest, we’ll admit our lives also display weeds, decay, and other undesirable qualities. We might regret having them and even try our best to hide them from others. But the all-knowing God sees them. Not only does He know about them, but He also extends the offer to purify us from them. “‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow’” (Isaiah 1:18).
There’s one important difference between natural snow and spiritual “snow,” however, as a glance out my window reveals: Most of the snow in our yard has melted; deficiencies again are visible. Although hidden for a time, they were there all the while.
When a person commits his or her life to Jesus Christ, however, their sins are not just covered up, to be unveiled again one day. The Bible talks about complete change, not superficial concealing of faults.
As someone has wisely observed, God loves us just as we are – but loves us too much to leave us that way. Through the working of His Spirit, our journey with Him involves a lifelong process of total transformation. As the Bible assures us, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
No comments:
Post a Comment