13 February 2026

Whiter than snow

Hello,

This week I have been watching with amazement as athletes from around the world have dazzled us with their sporting prowess at the Winter Olympics. Of course the key ingredients for most of the events is snow but, due to climate change, this is becoming an increasingly rare resource in many countries.

To address this the Olympics committee has turned to creating artificial snow, with over 56 million cubic feet created in preparation for this year’s games in the Italian Alps. The problem with this is that it requires a huge amounts of energy, water and chemicals to produce the snow, and the snow produced is of an inferior quality to natural snow.

In the Gospel of Mark, during the transfiguration event when Jesus revealed his true nature to a select few of his disciples we are told that “his clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow” (Mark 9:3 NKJV). When his disciples saw Jesus for who he truly was, he was shining like pristine white snow because of his perfect righteousness.

As human beings we often try to achieve our own righteousness, through our own effort. But, just like artificial snow, the results are inferior – creating just as many problems as they solve. The Good News is that Jesus did not just come to show us his righteousness, he also came to share it with us. 

While I am very unlikely to ever be an Olympic Athlete, Christ has already won the gold medal for me. 

Let him win the gold for you too.

Warm regards,

Gavin