Snow

We have forecasts of snow. Our local college was canceled Wednesday. Bible study canceled. I woke up to not a flake on the ground. We are grateful for weather people forecasting, right? We love to watch the time lapse and see where the snow/rain/sleet will go. A theme of our life is planning ahead, seeing the storms brewing, and we set about to order our steps.

I remember when I was little there was a snow storm that kept my family house bound for nearly a week. My dad home from work and my brother and I home from school. My dad baked bread all week. Snow so tall that my little brother, who was under five years old, stepped off the front porch and was incased immediately with snow. I remember my dad jumping in to rescue him. His little cries as all he saw around him was white. (It was not funny to him as you can imagine, but I, as the caring big sister, thought it was hilarious.)

My dad’s quick response in pulling Tim out of the snowy drift reminds me of Jesus.

“He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. He *said to the man with the withered hand, “Get up and come forward!” And He *said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

It would be kinda awful if my dad stood there laughing at my brother’s plight, right? Rather he saw what he had to do and did it. He pulled my brother back up. Jesus does this over and over, even on the Sabbath. He did not leave the suffering to tend on another day. He stepped in to our fallen, sinful world to pull us back up to him and to the Father. There’s something there for us today (grammar much?). Notice how often, when we sin, we run? We are ashamed and want to hide.

We all do it. We have done it since the garden of Eden. We think we can hide in the trees and God will not find us. Reminds me of playing peek-a-boo with a small child. They close and cover their eyes and we are gone. Their cute little brains will subsequently find the truth, but it is a mystery right now. They are hiding. We can hide the truth from people around us for a time, but never from our Father in heaven.

I’ve been in Leviticus with my annual read thru of the Bible. I know that people drop out once they get to this book. I get that! What has been my focus this time around is the blood and the oil. So much of both. The sacrifice of a life for the temporary pardon from sin. The blood was never enough for all time.

An image I cannot get out of my mind is the priest laying hands on the animal. The slice of the neck was the quickest, kindest? way. One of the commentaries I read said that the animals would squirm. Meanwhile the one offering the sacrifice for his/her sins would watch. A life for the sin in their lives.

Jesus, the perfect Lamb, gave his life once for all, for all of our sins. The blood of Christ washes away our sins. Do we take this lightly? Is it because we have read the story so often we forget the violence? Part of me wonders if my response would be different if I was there, but listen, if the Israelites in the desert could watch an animal’s lifeblood drain away and promptly go back to their homes and forget..I probably can’t use that as my excuse.

Jesus came and pulled us out of the mire and muck of our sin.

“I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in the Lord. How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭40‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬

Let’s take Jesus’ sacrifice, stand on the Rock, and make him our trust. Let us not think our little hiding techniques ever work with our Heavenly Father. Keep confessing, keep fixing your eyes, and stand firm.