Mountain snow.
Any one who has found himself in the valley of Chamounix on a sultry summer afternoon must have felt the striking contrast between the eternal winter of the vast snow-fields of Mont Blanc, spread out in blazing sunlight high above his head, and the dust and heat of the parched land around. The permanence of this mountain snow is suggestive of spiritual lessons.
I. MOUNTAIN SNOW IS AN EMBLEM OF SPIRITUAL LIFE MAINTAINED IN THE MIDST OF WORLDLY SCENES. Mountain snow is found in the hottest countries. You need not travel to arctic regions for perpetual snow, it may be found in the tropics. Christians need not be transported to heaven in order to live a pure Divine life. The duty of the Christian is to preserve this fresh and holy in the midst of the world, not to flee from the world. By remaining in the world the Christian is a means of blessing it as the mountain snow descending in glaciers and streams refreshes and fertilizes the valley. But the Christian's mission to the world is dependent on the preservation of his unworldly spirituality, as the refreshing streams that flow down the gorges of the mountain are dependent on the snows high above them. If the snow fails the stream is dried up. If the spirituality fails the Christian work becomes barren.
II. MOUNTAIN SNOW IS AN EMBLEM OF SPIRITUAL LIFE MAINTAINED IN THE MOST TRYING TIMES. The remarkable fact about the mountain snow is that it is perpetual. It is nothing that there is snow on the hills in winter; are not the plains then equally snow-clad? The Christian who only remains faithful under favorable circumstances is but superficially religious. The difficulty is to be true when all things are adverse, in the heat and burden of work, under the fierce onslaught of temptation, while the spirit of the age is against us, when Christianity is out of fashion, out of season. Yet we are to be instant out of season as well as in season (2 Timothy 4:2), to be independent of the weather, of the social atmosphere, in the changeless purity of a spiritual life.
III. THE CAUSES OF THE PERSISTENCE OF MOUNTAIN SNOW ARE SUGGESTIVE OF THE CAUSES OF THE PRESERVATION OF THE FRESHNESS AND PURITY OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE. How is it that we find snow in the tropics, snow in summer?
1. Great elevation. A few thousand feet in height will produce climatic changes equal to those caused by a distance of many degrees of latitude. The Christian must find his fidelity preserved by elevation of life. He must live on high, a risen life, with affections above the earth, with a treasure in heaven, and his heart there also. By constant communion with heaven constant purity on earth may be maintained, as the silent solitudes of snow remain through the summer in the cool regions of their great elevation.
2. Constantly renewed supplies. The snows melt under the sun and send roaring torrents down the hillsides, and in course of time they would disappear unless they were renewed. But clouds gather round the mountain summits and descend in fresh snows, and winter on its return makes up for the partial loss of snow in summer. So the Christian must maintain his spiritual life, not only by the elevation of his own thoughts, but by receiving repeated supplies of heavenly grace. He may be thankful that he is favored by "times of refreshing" when the fierce heat of trial is abated, and strength is accumulated for the time of need.