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You're
Not Wearing That Are You?!?
Clothes are a big deal aren’t they?
Just take a look in your closet! We have
different clothes for every occasion, activity, and season. We spend a
fortune trying to keep ourselves and our family reasonably in fashion,
particularly when it’s back-to-school time. But what about our spiritual
clothes?
Of course, we know how important it is to
"put on the full armor of God." But the Bible describes a richly varied
spiritual wardrobe available to us as God’s children--King’s kids
clothing. Check out these verses:
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I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul
rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and
arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head
like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isaiah
61:10, NIV)
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Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes
as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing
before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See,
I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you." Then I
said, "Put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on
his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by.
(Zechariah 3:3-5, NIV)
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For the perishable must clothe itself with
the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:53,
NIV)
And there are many, many more such as Romans
13:12-14, Colossians 3:12, 1 Peter 5:5, Galatians 3:26-27, 2 Corinthians
5:1-3. (If you have one, you can look in your concordance and find more.
Look up cloth, clothing, clothes, garments, raiment, etc.)
There are even descriptions of the sinner’s
spiritual clothing:
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Therefore pride is their necklace; they
clothe themselves with violence. (Psalm 73:6, NIV)
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My accusers will be clothed with disgrace
and wrapped in shame as in a cloak. (Psalm 109:29, NIV)
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…for drunkards and gluttons become poor,
and drowsiness clothes them in rags. (Proverbs 23:21, NIV)
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"Watch out for false prophets. They come
to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves."
(Matthew 7:15, NIV)
So, who decides which clothes we wear? In
Ephesians and elsewhere, Paul says we are to "put off" the old, and to
"put on" the new (see Ephesians 4:22-24, 6:11-13; Colossians 3:10, 14).
Just as we choose what shirt and slacks, or blouse and skirt we’ll wear
every morning, so too we choose what spiritual clothing we’ll wear each
day.
How we dress spiritually will affect our
attitudes, moods, and effectiveness. How well we dress our spirits will
impact others. We need to choose to put on clothes that are washed in His
forgiveness and freshly pressed by His mercy, and throw out those old rags
of self-righteousness.
It’s a daily activity since we can’t get
dressed once-and-for-all. And if we get dirtied during the day, or start
out in the wrong outfit, we can always choose to change into fresh clothes
any time.
Layering with holiness, purity, love, peace,
and humility is always fashionable. And there’s no better power suit than
one tailored with faithfulness, righteousness, and compassion.
Before you go
out, check yourself in the mirror one more time. Are you dressed like a
King’s kid--tres chic--or a candidate for the spiritually
worst-dressed list?
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