“As white as snow” (Michael A.G. Haykin)

Snow, flake upon flake,
Covers the soilèd earth:
It is the year’s first snowfall.

And my soilèd heart,
Its rubbishy vanities and filth,
Is blanketed, drop upon drop.

Of course, ’tis a different hue:
To angelic amazement—and mine—
Only His bloodied crimson will do.

Michael A. G. Haykin is Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His most recent book is Rediscovering the Church Fathers: Who They Were and How They Shaped the Church (Crossway, 2011). Haykin is the director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies.