On the 5th January, a South African who was in the congregation was telling me that he had just returned from a holiday in his homeland. He commented that he had been on the beach there at Christmas, and had enjoyed the heat. But then he exclaimed what a shock to the system it had been to come back to the U.K. to a temperature of minus 5 degrees. Having been working in the U.K. for seven years, his big regret was, that he had never seen snow.

During that night six inches of snow fell, so that it was a white world that he awoke to. I am sure that his wish and delight were fulfilled. It is hard for us to realise that there are adults, and particularly children in this world, who have never seen snow!

When snow lies as a white blanket on the land, and no footprint mars its glistening surface, then it seems to depict and portray purity. Indeed, Scripture uses it in that way on many occasions. But there is a covering whiteness that exceeds even this. David petitions God, “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Only the blood of Christ can cleanse to such a degree, as to remove our sin and make us pure in His sight. Wash, my friend, in the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness.