Devotions By Jan

Category Archives: Grace and Forgiveness


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Whiter than Snow

IMG_8034Scripture for Today:  Psalm 51:7  “Purify me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.”

We had a beautiful snowfall this morning.  There is something special about waking up to a whitewashed landscape.  All the sad bare trees suddenly look festive.  Add hot chocolate and all is right with the world!

Our landlord, Mr. Hell, is a big help (yes, that is his name!  See “What’s in a Name” Aug.27, 2012).  He clears the long alley way out to the street with his tractor.  Before long, the snow no longer looks so clean and white.  There are foot prints, tire tracks and Tiger’s paw prints all sullying its brightness.  As the snow melts and mixes with the mud beneath, the white gets lost in grey.

Our verse today says that I can be whiter than snow.  The Lord’s forgiveness makes me that way.  My sin makes my heart dirty.  My guilt makes it dark.  But the Lord promises full cleansing when I confront and confess my sin.  His forgiveness makes everything white and bright again.

Like the snow outside, the whiteness of my heart does not seem to last very long!  Sin creeps back in little by little, dimming the white and changing it to grey.  Before long it is too noticeable to ignore.  The washing of my heart needs to be a daily routine.  Just as the washing of the disciples’ feet in John 13 is a daily necessity, so is my daily confession.

How wonderful to experience the new freshness of bright white snow!  How amazing that God’s forgiveness does the same for me!  His patient and consistent pardon means that each day can have a new white beginning.  One day, that whiteness will last forever.


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Scars

Scripture for Today:  I Peter 2:24  “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.”

The human body is amazing.  It can take such abuse and still function.  My husband, after years of basketball, has had four knee operations, two on each knee.  We tease each other that one knee is German and one knee is French!  He continues to play to this day but he will always have the scars.

I have a scar on my hand dating back to pre-teen days.  I was angry at my Mother at the time, so angry I could hardly see straight.  I walked into our glass side door, thinking it was open.  I can not look at that scar without thinking of my loss of control!

The Lord is so good to heal us from our injuries and from our diseases.  He promises us a glorified body one day that will never need healing again.  Our verse today talks about the price He paid for our physical and spiritual healing, His death on the cross.  We have been healed.  But sometimes scars are left behind.

I wonder why He allows those scars to remain.  They usually fade with time but why have them at all?  Perhaps, the scars are there to remind us of His healing in our lives.  They remind us of His goodness and grace.  We look at our scars and remember how we have failed and how much we need Him.  Our scars keep us humble.

We all have scars, seen or unseen.  Normally, scars are not so pretty.  But if they remind us of His love and forgiveness, if they remind us of His grace and healing, then they can be  beautiful!