Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Isaiah 2:18

In an hour or so it is predicted that we will get our first snow of the season.  Thoughts turn inward.  We reckon with the change of seasons, welcoming winter as we always knew it.  The walls of our lives close out the world, to some degree, and we are in a sense isolated by the appearance of snow.  Where I grew up in Johnstown, Pa., snow came and stayed all Winter.  Here in Lancaster it is not quite like that.  We got used to snow and found a delight in it.  Its glistening white color was always a surprise!  In fact, a good snow turned everything into a white wonderland. It covered everything, marvelous!

Our text reminds us that the snow of God’s Spirit will come over us by grace and cover all our colors.  The reds, greens, browns and all the other colors will be covered, entirely, by a coating of glowing white.

So, I enter this season of the year with praise for sins forgiven, for grace where there was striving, for peace that passes understanding.  This is God’s season that reminds us that our sins are forgiven, and God sees only white beauty when he looks at us, the old has gone, the new has come.   The scarlet of sin is gone, the white of snow creates a new thing, for which we offer eternal praise, this first snow of the season.