March 6 – What are you wearing? Scripture Reading: Leviticus 14:1-57 / Mark 13:1-31 / Psalm 30:8-12 Times sure have changed… when my father graduated from High School he wore a suit and tie. My children wore casual clothes for their senior pictures and were photographed in a number of different places… in the woods, on a bridge, etc. When I graduated in 1977, I wore a baby blue polyester leisure suit with an open collared, flowered silk shirt. Those were the days! In the 70’s, wild prints, platform shoes, polyester suits, bell-bottom pants and tie-dyed shirts were fashionable and so cool. Not only did we get a noticeable height lift when we wore platform shoes, we also received an emotional and ego lift. We not only felt bigger, we felt better about ourselves! “Clothes make the man!” What we wore not only affected how others perceived us but how we perceived ourselves. Likewise, Biblical fashion did not stray far from the standard robe and sandals but there were times when specific clothes were worn to make significant statements. Sackcloth was worn by people who were mourning or as a sign of penitence. Sackcloth was a coarse material usually made of black goat’s hair making it very uncomfortable to wear and clearly communicated the person’s grief. David speaks of wearing sackcloth, “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.” (Psalm 30:11) David wore sackcloth during a tumultuous time in his life but found God outfitted him with an exuberant garment of joy! God took David’s mourning and gave him dancing shoes! God knows how to tailor perfect fitting clothes for us because He is the fashion expert and aficionado…He clothed Adam and Eve in the Garden! David exchanged his sorrow for joy. Christ arose from the grave and exchanged His crucified body for a glorified body. One day He will raise us from the dead and our body of corruption will put on incorruption and we will exchange the mortal for the immortal. The power of death and the grave will give way to the voice of the archangel, the trump of God and Christ’s authority to raise us from the dead! We will be clothed with a glory that will not end and last for eternity! Jesus has the power to deliver our souls from sin and transform our minds. He makes us new creatures and fills us with His divine presence. The joy of the Lord becomes our strength and causes sorrow to flee. The world envelops us with dark sorrow but Jesus illuminates our lives with His perfect peace and presence. Jesus provides robes of righteousness to cover our sinful and self-righteous rags. He does not give us common robes of this world to wear but places divine and royal garments on us. He does not dress us like beggars but children of the Most High! We are not undone or underdressed but clothed with His glory and endued by His Spirit. God’s clothes not only make a man…they make a man’s eternity!
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 05:22:38 +0000
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