May 2005 Devotional

SPRING  is definitely here.  And for some reason, that always makes me want to buy new clothes!  (TRUTH ALERT:  Actually, every change of season makes me want to buy new clothes.  It must be the “female gene” or perhaps the “female jean”?  But I digress….)

It’s also a good time to go through your closet and throw out or donate clothing you haven’t worn in a while (two years of non-wearing is my limit) – either because they don’t fit, aren’t in style, or just aren’t “you” anymore.  Know what I mean?

Recently I was reading my Bible and came across numerous passages about clothing.  For some reason it made me stop and think of God’s view of a cool wardrobe.

Adam and Eve were the first to ask “what to wear?”!  For a time they were nudists, guilt free about their sans-clothing fashion statement.  But after they rebelled against God, they were instantly aware of their nakedness and longed to be clothed.  For humans in bondage to sin, nakedness – the lack of suitable clothing -- became emblematic of shame and our desperate position before God.  From that time on, God uses clothing and being clothed as prophetic symbolism for how he will restore us to sinlessness and bring us back to himself.

• In Ezekiel 16, God speaks of his passion for his people through a tender analogy of a husband lovingly clothing his beautiful wife in rich fabrics and jewelry. 

• Throughout scripture (2 Kings 19:30-31, Isaiah 1:9, Micah 2:12, and Jeremiah 6:9 to name just a very few) God promises that even though many people reject him, he will always save a few – like a remnant saved from a larger piece of cloth.

• Psalm 104:1-2 reveals that God himself is “clothed with honor and majesty” and “covers [himself] with light, as with a garment.”

• In times of sorrow or sin, people tore their clothes or put on sackcloth (a rough cloth made of camel or goat hair, flax, hemp, or cotton).  That’s why John the Baptist wore camel’s hair.  It vividly symbolized his call for repentance, and the saving role our Lord Jesus would have.

• In the Gospels, we learn of a woman who suffered for 12 years from a blood disease, who was made clean and whole by simply touching the hem of Jesus’ clothing.

• Several times scripture tells us that you wouldn’t put a patch of old cloth on a new garment – a reminder that as new creatures in Christ, we are to live as reborn people, not clinging to our old temptations or unfruitful lifestyles.  In its place, Col 3:10 says, “you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you.

• Our human bodies actually long for this heavenly clothing.  2 Corinthians 5:4 puts it this way:  “For while we are in this tent [our bodies], we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.”

• The Bible relates our sinfulness to filthy rags.  But we are told that, as believers, Jesus clothes us in his own, pure righteousness – something we could never accomplish on our own.  

• In fact, this holy clothing analogy continues right into heaven, where God’s precious people (his church -- us!) are seen as a gorgeously decked-out bride. 

So what does all of this mean for us today?  Luke 12:28 reminds us that we really shouldn’t worry about daily clothing too much, because as God has “clothed” the grass of the field, so will he also provide for us.  We should also be careful to not be such a slave to fashion that we disdain those in poor clothing (James 2:2), but instead be generous and provide clothing for those in need (Matt. 25:36).

The kind of clothing God is interested in is not ‘70s wear or the 1940s style, but something that is timeless.  We are to be clothed with humility (1 Peter 5:5) and clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49).  Romans 13:14 says we should “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus and make no provisions for fleshly lusts”, and Col 3:12 says to “clothe yourselves with feelings of compassion and with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

Like the woman in Proverbs 31, God wants us to wear strength and honor as our clothing.  And ultimately, we are to acknowledge the truth of what the apostle Paul said in Galatians 3:27, “Clearly, all of you who were baptized in Christ's name have clothed yourselves with Christ.”   That’s quite a wardrobe, isn’t it?  A pretty, powerful, pile of apparel that will no doubt place us in a perfectly positive position to prevail!  And if we live that out daily, our focus on clothing will be more rightly placed in God’s closet than our own.  (TRUTH ALERT:  Although it’s still fun to buy new clothes!) 

Love,
Lisa Kinakin