Whiter Than Snow

I love winter.  Yes, I know.  I am a freak.  One of my favorite series of books is the "Little House on the Prairie" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.  Of that series, "The Long Winter", is still sitting on my bedside table, for me to pick up whenever I feel the need to go through a blizzard.  I love reading about how the kids get caught at school in a blizzard, how Laura and Mary help Pa tightly twist the hay for fuel and how they keep their spirits up. 

In "The Long Winter", a series of blizzards come through the Midwest.  According to my sources, a lot of this book is true.  There were seven months of blizzards from October 1880 to May 1881.  The railroad shut down and a lot of townspeople starved or nearly starved.  I started thinking about this, obviously because of the large blizzard that has come over the northern middle of our country right now.  We are suppose to get a lot of rain tonight, and we got  little ice last night.  The weather has been very snowy this season, and I heard this morning, that usually, February is the snowiest month of all the winter months.  Are we in trouble?  I don't know.  I can't predict the weather.  I am just glad we have weather people who do and warn us about the weather.

Though I love this cold, white season, I know it brings a lot of people down.  It's cold air makes for aches and pains.  The darker skies bring gloom and sadness.  People do not want to get out in weather like this. It is depressing.  But, on the upside, I love the snow fall, just as it is covering everything.  The world is quiet, the sounds are muted and all you see is white.  It reminds me that God loves me and washes all my sins so they are white a snow.  White as snow may also be how Jesus looks in heaven. To me, snow white is perfection for God.

Psalm 51:7
 ⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Mark 9:2-3
 ²And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.
 ³And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.

So don't despair during these long, dark months.  The snow may be deep, and the wind may be harshly cold, but the whiteness of it is something to dwell on.  Sing with me...


Whiter Than Snow
Words by James L. Nicholson
Music by William G. Fischer

Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly whole;
I want Thee forever to live in my soul.
Break down every idol, cast out every foe;
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow.
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus, let nothing unholy remain,
Apply Thine own blood and extract ev’ry stain;
To get this blest cleansing, I all things forego—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus, look down from Thy throne in the skies,
And help me to make a complete sacrifice.
I give up myself, and whatever I know,
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat,
I wait, blessèd Lord, at Thy crucified feet.
By faith, for my cleansing, I see Thy blood flow,
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Lord Jesus, Thou seest I patiently wait,
Come now, and within me a new heart create;
To those who have sought Thee, Thou never saidst “No,”
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

The blessing by faith, I receive from above;
O glory! my soul is made perfect in love;
My prayer has prevailed, and this moment I know,
The blood is applied, I am whiter than snow.