Songbirds and Snakes – Pure As the Driven Snow

Fandom: “Pure As the Driven Snow” from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, as performed by Maiah Wynne

Verses: 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, Hebrews 11:1, Isaiah 1:18, Galatians 3:27

Nugget: We need, love, and trust Jesus because of who He is and what He’s done for us.

This song was written by one of the protagonists of TBOSAS, Lucy Gray. Its lyrics show a progression of her relationship with Coriolanus, the antihero and main love interest. She starts with need, then love, and finishes with trust. Listening to the rest of the lyrics, this progression bears a striking resemblance to the progression of growth in our relationship with Jesus and the process of sanctification.

We need Jesus to make us pure and whole.

“This world, it’s dark, and this world is scary/ I’ve taken some hits, so no wonder I’m wary/ That’s why I need you — You’re pure as the driven snow.”

The idea of “need” goes with the concept of salvation as an event. We accept Jesus’ gift of salvation in a single event, and that event saves us, permanently. Because there is no other way to go to Heaven and be saved, we need Jesus to save us. Isaiah 1:18 says that “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be as wool.” This is a valuable truth that merits acknowledgement.

But many Christians stop there, saying okay Jesus, You’ve saved me and I’m grateful, but anything else is… just a little too much. And while having dry seasons in your belief doesn’t negate a person’s salvation, you miss out on so much when you don’t pursue the relationship that we were called to have with God through Jesus.

As our relationship matures, need becomes love.

“This world goes blind when children are dying/ I turn into dust, but You never stop trying/ It’s why I love you — You’re pure as the driven snow.”

What sets acquaintances apart from true friends, and friends apart from best friends, and best friends apart from soulmates? The relationship you share with the person, the things you’ve gone through, the times they’ve shown up for you.

That relationship becomes “love” at different times for different people. In the context of a relationship with Jesus, love may start out as an emotion. It comes in fits and starts, what we might call “mountaintop moments,” when Holy Spirit is especially powerful and it feels like Jesus is right in front of us, meeting us face to face.

Those moments are beautiful. But I know in my life, the moments that really solidify my love for the Lord are the times when I was sad and alone– when I was turning into dust– and I read a verse that spoke directly to what I was feeling, or when I felt peace about an uncertain situation before the answers arrived. That’s true love, that intimacy and implicit understanding, and it comes through daily walking and conversation and getting to know Jesus better.

It’s only when we realize exactly who Jesus is and how faithful He is to us, when we experience that He never gives up on us, even at our worst, that our need for Him becomes love.

Trust is the deepest form of love – and Jesus is more worthy than anyone.

“Everyone thinks they know all about me/ They slap me with labels, they spit out their fables,/ You came along, You saw it was lying/ You saw the ideal me, and yes, that’s the real me.”

Jesus sees me as I really am– faults and dust, yes, but also worth and potential and purpose. The more I turn to Him for help, the more I put my faith in Him and seek to become more like Him, the more I trust Him.

It’s possible to love someone without fully trusting them. Just ask anyone who’s ever been in a committed relationship, or had parents, or been a parent. We don’t know everything about the people we love, so it makes sense for there to be gaps in our trust.

The same thing happens in our relationship with Jesus; Biblical scholars call this sanctification. We can’t know Jesus 100 percent right now because we’re human. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen,” as Hebrews 11:1 says. But as we grow in love, experiencing His faithfulness and love and purity on a deeper level, we also grow in our assurance that Jesus is real, present, and trustworthy.

Because of this, the best way for us to show love to Jesus (and the humans in our lives also) is to trust Him. And the best way to trust Him is to listen to what He says, what He’s promised, and act on it.

Want to know how to trust Jesus in the midst of fear? Check out this post based on “Hope is the only thing stronger than fear” 😉

Let the purity of Jesus soak into your heart.

“Cold and clean, swirling over my skin/ You cloak me, You soak right in/ down to my heart…” These lyrics are beautiful even on the human level, but imagine this as an image of Jesus and the Holy Spirit soaking in deep into our hearts, making us more like Him. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27).

Imagine the slow soaking in of snow through every layer of clothing you’re wearing, until you’re soaked through. Imagine the lingering cold you feel after a long walk through the snow, even hours after coming inside. This is how walking with Jesus should feel. The effects of salvation are eternal, and the effects of daily interactions with the Lord last longer and longer the more we let Him soak into our heart.

Let’s stand in the [metaphorical] snow today, letting the purity of Jesus sanctify our mind, body, and soul as we marvel at the wonder of our salvation like flakes of purest snow.

“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.”

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

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Happy fangirling!

Will you stay with me? Check out these posts 😉