Whiter Than Snow

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Psalm 51:7

For centuries, the color white has signified purity. Isaiah spoke of purity in terms of the whitest thing he could think of—snow—when he said, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).

Snow is so white that one can see almost anything that is dropped on it, even up to great distances. We can take the whitest object we can find, like newly washed clothing, but when we place it next to snow it still looks dirty by comparison.

Our lives are like that. At times, we may think of ourselves as morally good and decent, content that “we are not like other men.” But compared to God’s purity, we are defiled and filthy.

In spite of our sins and uncleanness, God still loves us. He decided to provide for us a purity we could never attain on our own. That is why He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us on the cross. It is only when our sins have been washed in the blood of Christ that we appear as white as snow in the eyes of God. No human “detergent” of good works or clean thoughts can make us that white, that pure. Only Christ’s precious blood can do that, and it is only His blood that can continue to cleanse us from sin after He has saved us.

Reflect on that wonderful truth. Claim it for your own life.

Our Father and our God, Your radiance blinds me. I cannot look on the brilliance of Your purity and holiness without repenting of my sinfulness and the ugly stains on my heart and soul. I pray for Your forgiveness to wash my soul clean again, as white as snow. I cannot live without You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010.