Dirt in the Snow

There is nothing like taking a walk in the cold mountain air. This morning I felt like I had to get out. It has been several months since I have gone out in the morning and this morning was a must. I felt like I needed a new breath. I needed the quiet of the morning, the new birds singing, and the crisp air to awaken my senses from the long winter of being inside too much. I didn't know where I was going, or what I was going to hear, but off I went. I knew there was something that I was going to see for the first time, again. I did.

Have you ever seen a pile of snow that has been scraped off of the road? After the snow starts to melt the dirt is left on the surface. What once looked like fresh white snow, now looks like a mound of dirt. The city has a field where they leave the snow, from all winters snow removal, right by my house. For some reason I was drawn to this field. I traveled down a pathway that the trucks had been taking and piling up snow on each side. I felt like I was I was walking between two mountains. By the time I reached the end of the piles I was getting very cold with the sun behind me and a light breeze blowing in my face. Once I turned around I started to warm up with the sun shining in my face. It was such a contrast to finally be getting warm, that is when I really started noticing the snow.

The snow that was facing the sun was now just a pile of dirt, but the side that was not yet affected by the sun still looked clean, fresh and white. While I was much more comfortable walking toward the sun, the piles facing the sun were getting exposed and you could see them for what they really were. That is when it hit me, this is what we feel like when we finally let Christ expose us for what we really are. Now that is unattractive! This is what so many people are afraid of when they are faced with Christ. When we finally look at our true selves, there is nothing pretty about us. Now why would anyone want to face the Son and risk being exposed in this way! Because this is when you can feel the warmth of His love. This is when you can finally let go of all of the junk you carry around with you on the inside. You know, the stuff you try to cover up so people can only see the surface that has not yet been touched by the Son. But here is the truth of it, even if you cover it well, dirt is still the part you are really made of. Maybe you think that no one else can see it, and maybe they can't, but you do. The hard part is facing yourself for what you really are.

Our natural tendency is to run from what hurts. It seems easier to try and cover over our own guilt, than to face it. We dress it up, make it look pretty, then we walk around trying to make sure that no one sees us for what we really are. Once we finally surrender and turn our face towards Christ, it hurts. But then after the season of the thaw is over, and He can finally reach us, He washes us truly clean. He is the only one with the power to take all of the dirt, expose it for what it really is, then replace it with something that is really clean and pure. Nothing feels better than to walk toward the Son when you are feeling cold and the breeze of this world is trying to keep you for its own.