Colossians 3:9-11
Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
I love to find old garments at the thrift store and repurpose them into new things… especially children’s clothing. I look at a colorful ladies t-shirt and see a cute sundress with leggings for my nieces, Zola and Kelsey. I buy brightly colored, extra-large t-shirts and use them to make cute pants, shorts and more. Denim dresses and jeans have become everything from clothing to window coverings to a blanket to cover a brick fireplace hearth…and even a new high-chair seat cover! Old, discarded, possibly ill-fitting clothing becomes a new wardrobe…and more!
Recently, my friend Melissa gave me a designer-label dress that she no longer wore because it had a stain on the front. She said, “Do something fun and creative with it.” This was a really nice dress… high quality fabric, well made - and I’m sure it was quite expensive. The dress is now an Easter frock for my niece, Zola, and a colorful blouse for Melissa’s daughter, Ada. I used the scraps to make hair bows for both of the girls. As I worked on the scraps, I took a chance and bleached the stained area, and I was able to clean it “white as snow” and use it, as well.
The “old life” of the dress is done and gone, but the new life is customized. The old dress was stained… the new dresses are crisp and clean. While this dress bore a designer label, I don’t put an actual tag on the new things I create. But the children know that I made them with love and care… thinking especially of that particular child as I sewed… and my little friend, Ada, has told her mom several times that her new clothes “smell like ‘Miss Devvie!’”
As the Ultimate Designer, God created each of us. We were high quality…well-made out of the best materials… and so valuable that Jesus gave His very life for ours on the cross. As we grew, we became stained by sin. And Jesus refashioned us into new creatures when he exchanged His life for ours. Now we are crisp and clean. No “designer labels” are necessary if we walk with Jesus, because people will know Who we are “wearing” by the way we talk and act. Honesty and integrity are our trademarks… along with grace, mercy, humility, forgiveness, compassion, empathy, and love. When we wear the new wardrobe given to us in Christ, people recognize that His fragrant aroma all over us!
Here’s the thing… some of us have a closet filled with the “designer label” clothing of Jesus Christ… but we still prefer to wear our old rags. We are trying to live in two different worlds. When we lie, cheat, steal, mistreat others, gossip, act unkindly, fail to conduct ourselves honorably, or ignore God, we totally negate our testimony of salvation and grace by faith to others. It would be like putting on designer jeans or shoes with a dirty, ill-fitting shirt that was tattered and missing buttons. The two do not belong together… and the “look” would not be impressive or desirable to anyone.
Through the blood of Jesus, God has blessed you with a beautiful new wardrobe that never goes out of style. Be “all in” for God. Don’t deface and disrespect His gift by operating in the things of your old life. Strive to live with integrity each and every minute of the day. Continually ask yourself, “Am I representing Jesus… or the devil? Are my actions and behaviors those that He desires… or am I acting selfishly and/or sinfully?” I can tell you, when you take a few minutes to stop and consider this before you speak or act, you will often find that you were about to “put on an old rag.” The more you take a moment to consider your behavior, the easier and more natural these choices will become. You will begin to feel so comfortable in the “new clothing” of Christ that you no longer desire to “wear” the things of your old life.
Take a good look at your “Spiritual closet” today and see what you are wearing. Who is your Designer of choices these days? Are you in need of “repurposing?”
©2013 Debbie Robus
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