Father as I come to sit before You this evening, my mind and body are weary. May I clearly hear You through the fog in my mind and may I plainly share the word that You have for me. Amen.

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This afternoon, through a majority of my routes, we had a beautiful snow! There were huge flakes, and it was quite heavy at times. We have snow on the ground from over the weekend and this round was a nice dusting over it all. What gets plowed off the highway in front of our home isn’t very attractive, but this prettied it up very nicely!

Driving through it brought to mind a story I shared a while back, but it’s such a simple – but special – memory, that I need to share it again.

Back in high school, my dad pastored a church that was nestled in the mountains of West Virginia – Parsons, WV to be specific. It was the norm to get quite a bit of snow there (this past weekend they were supposed to get around two feet of it!)

One winter evening, my sister Katrina and I decided to take our dog, Sugar, for a walk into the center of town. It had been snowing steadily and all around us was white. It was less than a mile and we were in no hurry. It was late enough that traffic was non-existent. No one was around and we just quietly walked through the falling snow, with nothing but the sound of crunching snow beneath our feet. I remember walking past the streetlights and looking up into the shining lights to see the snow continue to come in steady sheets blowing and swirling as it gently fell to the ground. It was breathtaking.

If enough snow falls it does an excellent job of smoothing things out. Jagged edges are rounded. Lumpy ground is covered in a carpet of snow and often we can’t even tell what lies below. A miracle of God’s creation accomplishes on a grand scale what man cannot. Mile upon mile is coated, many times bringing portions of our lives to a standstill, if only for a short time.

1 Peter 4:8 communicates a beautiful and impacting command. It reads,

Above all, have fervent and unfailing love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins [it overlooks unkindness and unselfishly seeks the best for others]. AMP

Just as humanity cannot accomplish the immensity of a winter’s snow, we are incapable of loving as we should. In our humanity alone, we falter in our love, but when we share our love out of God’s limitless reserve, great things happen. In that setting, our love for one another can be fervent. It can be unfailing. And in the process, that kind of love can cover a multitude of sins!

In our world, it’s a challenge to overlook unkindness. Our instinct is constantly fed by our culture and instead of overlooking unkindness, we seek retaliation. Instead of unselfishly seeking the best for others, many are all about looking out only for themselves.

Lord Jesus, as we strive to love You with all that we are, may our love for others, which is a natural byproduct of that love, cover the parts of the earth that we individually touch. In so doing may our combined touches, thoroughly cover a multitude of sins so that we can begin to see past the jagged edges of pain and hurt and instead see the world as You do…and forgive. Amen.

Jan 27th, 2022, Thurs, 7:41 pm