"Spiritual Albedo"

“We all, with unveiled faces, are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory…” (2 Corinthians 3:18, HCSB) We had the wonderful blessing over the weekend to have received 4 inches of glistening snow. On Sunday afternoon, we again ventured outside with our kids to enjoy the ‘rare treasure’ of a measurable snow. The skies were deep blue and the strength of the sun pierced through that winter sky to create a bright, white radiance off of the snow-covered ground. As I spent time in the Lord’s Word this morning, one of my devotions pointed out this same observation, “I don’t think there’s anything much brighter than the sunlight reflecting off the snow on a winter morning. It’s probably the closest we can get on earth to experiencing the kind of brightness that emanates from Christ.” That reflectivity of the sun’s light off of the snow in science terms is called “albedo.” It actually comes from the latin word which means “whiteness.” In Revelation 1:14, the heavenly vision describing Christ which was given to the Apostle John reads, “His head and His hair were white like wool, as white as snow.” The word translated ‘white’ in this scripture is the same term used to describe Jesus’ appearance in the transfiguration (Matthew 17:2). Such brilliance found in white light is a picture of the purity and holiness of Christ – so much so that we have to cover our eyes, much like I had too as that bright sun reflected off of the fresh white snow in our lawn. Just as an objects albedo rating determines its level of reflectivity of the light it receives, I believe we as Christians have a similar “spiritual albedo” rating – that is, the measurable degree to which we reflect the light we receive from Christ (John 8:12) from our lives. The Apostle Paul speaks of this ‘spiritual albedo’ principle in 1 Corinthians 11:7 where he writes, “Man is made in God’s image and reflects God’s glory.” (NLT) When snow becomes dirty/polluted, its albedo rating drops. Similarly, when we allow sin to go unconfessed and unaddressed in our lives, our ‘spiritual albedo’ rating quickly drops (i.e. the degree to which our lives reflect the radiance and holiness of Jesus Christ). So whenever we sin (and we all do!; Romans 3:23), know the quickest way to raise our 'spiritual albedo' is to confess our sins (1 John 1:9) and trust afresh in God's promise to "cleanse us from all unrighteousness" which leaves us as "white as snow" (Psalms 51:7, Isaiah 1:18) - reflecting once again the brilliant glory of Jesus Christ! So as we enjoy the beauty of a fresh fallen snow, may we be ever mindful of our “spiritual albedo” and may our lives reflect the brilliance of God’s perfect love, unending grace and holiness! …Selah!
Today's Spirit-led video is from the Maranatha singers and can be viewed on the title, "White As Snow" - G3 for His cleansing power through His shed blood at Calvary!