On the 11th Day of Christmas it may or may not be snowing here and in Indiana and South Dakota and LOTS of other places!

I used to really-really hate snow.  I’ve mostly lived in places with long winters and snow to the rafters.  It slowed me down, snowed me in, made life a little more difficult if it lasted more than a day or two.  Then about 20 or 22 years ago, I saw this video on TBN  of Carman singing, “Somewhere it’s Snowing,” and forever, the beauty of the thought that grace and forgiveness cover our sin like snow covers the earth and “gives nature new birth,” well, I fell in love with God’s ways through this white blanket of wondrousness.

Snowy days are fun at first and get old fast, but I never cease to be amazed by the even the ugliest, most uneven ground, or sooty factories and broken roads – they all, under a coat of fresh snow, are beautiful again. And the picture of that, the miracle of it, is so profound, I really do thank God for the most vivid reminder on days like today.

I once read in a poem, when snow covers the earth,

That it hides the worlds scars, and gives nature new birth,

And they say when a man turns from sin to the Lord,

That forgiveness, like snow, covers him evermore!

And somewhere it’s snowing –

Now, I’ve heard that the angels lift their hearts and rejoice,

When one traveler turns homeward from his ways, to the Lord.

If somewhere someone’s turning, he’s giving his all,

And God’s grace, like the snow, is beginning to fall!

On the 11th day of Christmas, I am overwhelmed as I realize the gift of Jesus, and all He came to bring,

“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow…”  Isaiah 1.18

Our sins, all the ones we committed before we knew Him and received Him (“while we were yet sinners”), and all the ones since – they fall powerless in the face of the grace-full and free, forgiveness-laden blood of Jesus Christ.  He fulfilled all sin’s demanding requirements and He is enough, setting us free from the law of sin and death.  Don’t just sit there consumed by your pain and shame and sin – run to the forgiver.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  1 John 1.9

Seriously?  You can take this to the bank.  If you confess – He is faithful, He is just, He is able and will forgive your sins and cleanse you from that stranglehold of sin and unrighteousness.  Run to Him for forgiveness, to Him.  You’ll never find what only Jesus gives anywhere else.  Let the good, sweet and amazing grace of Jesus cover your sin like the snow is covering Colorado!

Song, Somewhere it’s Snowing by Priscilla Coffey

And somewhere it’s snowing –

see the soft drifting down

As the snowflakes surrender

to the hardening ground.

Like the good grace of Jesus,

that now covers our sin,

In the kingdom of Heaven,

it’s snowing, again.”