Father,
You have decided
that we should get some snow. And we’ve gotten a good bit. And while that might
get us to thinking about lots of different things from building snow forts to
needing to shovel when we get home, this element of Your natural revelation reminds
us of what You said through Your prophet so long ago.
Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…
What a thought. Our
sins against You earn us eternity in hell. But that won’t happen. Our many
sins, red like blood, are now gone, completely wiped out. They are as white as
snow.
How do we respond to
this, Father? For one thing we offer You our humble thanks. There was and there
is nothing that we can do to deal with our sins. Even if You were to choose the
least of all our sins, we would still stand condemned, destined for destruction.
But You have dealt with all of that by sending Your Son. Saying ‘Thank You’
seems so very weak, but it is a start.
Grant that we will
grow in our ability to grasp what all this means. To that end, grant that we
will see our sin more like You see it. We will never be repulsed by it like You
are, but please give us more of a sense of the evil that we have done and continue
to do. We ask for this, Father, so that we will grasp more of what it means
that those sins are forgiven, completely forgiven, gone.
We ask for this,
Father, not so that we will feel burdened by a sense of debt. We ask for this
so that we will comprehend better the love that is ours because of the Cross.
Gaining a better sense of what it means that we are so loved can only have a
salutary effect on our desire to love You in return.
Our love for You is
small. But we look forward to how You will change that. Through Christ our
Lord, Amen.