Friday, February 20, 2015

Wonderful, or Horrible, Snow



           I have been thinking a lot about snow this week.  Not so much because we have a lot here, but seeking to learn some spiritual lessons from it.  It is important that we learn to hear God's voice, since He wants to teach us lessons for living in everything that occurs.
            As the title says, snow can be good or bad, depending on our attitude toward it, or the context of our thoughts as we look at it.  This is seen in putting Proverbs 25:13 and 26:1 side by side:   "As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he  refreshes the soul of his masters."  And:  "As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honor is not seemly for a fool."  

            There are a lot of different lessons I believe God can teach us if we spent time looking up the 24 texts that have the word "snow" in them in the KJV.  But there is something that kept coming into my mind this week as I thought about it.  And it has to do with the way that something that is meant by God to be a blessing, can be turned, by my choice, into a curse.  It all has to do with my choice.  While my life can be washed clean of sin and be "white as snow" (Isaiah 1:18),  I can refuse God's grace, hold onto my sins,  and therefore be incurable as leprosy,  "a leper, as snow". (2 Kings 5:27)


            I was thinking about Psalm 147:16:  "He gives snow like wool...."  Snow is an insulating blanket covering the ground in protection from the bitter, below zero temperatures we have been having.  Along with that text, a quotation came to my mind:   "In the matchless gift of His Son, God has encircled the whole world with an atmosphere of grace as real as the air which circulates around the globe. All who choose to breathe this life-giving atmosphere will live and grow up to the stature of men and women in Christ Jesus."  {Steps to Christ p. 68}    (I have emphasized parts in order to make a point.)  Like the snow that covers our land, God's grace also covers the earth.  We may not see it physically, but it is just as real as the snow we do see. 
            The grace of God is given so that I can be delivered from sin.  It is to cover my life with Christ's life so my sins are forgiven, but it is also to give me power to change me from a sinner to a saint of God.  I am not just covered, but transformed!  What a glory and miracle!  But just as with the snow, there are some that choose NOT to be changed by God's grace.  They want to cling to their sins, rejecting all of heaven's efforts to save them.  They "frustrate the grace of God". 
            Each day we are given life is a day of decision.  Each day we must make the choice again.  God values our freedom to choose so highly that He gives us ample time to make a choice, but also ample time to change our mind.  Do you see the grace of God as wonderful, or horrible?  What choice will you make today?  How do you see the snow, the grace, given by God today?

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