Happy 70th Birthday To My Blessing of a Mother....Ruby A. James
What Did You Take Out To Wear Today?...
Colossians 3:12-14 (Amplified Bible)
12Clothe yourselves therefore, as God's own chosen ones (His own picked representatives), [who are] purified and holy and well-beloved [by God Himself, by putting on behavior marked by] tenderhearted pity and mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, [and] patience [which is tireless and long-suffering, and has the power to endure whatever comes, with good temper]. 13Be gentle and forbearing with one another and, if one has a difference (a grievance or complaint) against another, readily pardoning each other; even as the Lord has [freely] forgiven you, so must you also [forgive]. 14And above all these [put on] love and enfold yourselves with the bond of perfectness [which binds everything together completely in ideal harmony].
Every evening or every morning, we go through our closets and painstakingly look for something to wear for the next day or that day’s events. We go through our repertoire of tops, bottoms and shoes. We will even hold up accessories next to our outfits to see what best matches and will complement our outfit the best. I have known people who will take out two or three outfits lay them out on the bed with all possibilities for that outfit laid on top, in order for them to get a complete visual for what they would look like with that particular outfit on. We take so much time with the outside, but do we take the same amount of time with the inside?
This weekend I had a full weekend and I had not slept much and I had not eaten much. My blood sugar was running low and I was over tired. I had wanted a roast beef sandwich for a few days, and I was looking forward to having it today and just enjoying the moments of today, after a weekend that wore me out. As I entered the kitchen, I went to the refrigerator and my favorite kind of roast beef was there, the lettuce and the mayo I even had chips that would accent my lunch perfectly, then I went over to where we store the bread and I have a thing about my roast beef on a Hawaiian roll. Now because I am a picky eater, I buy what I like or if I know I am going to want something I ensure it is in the house. When I got over to where I left my rolls they were not there. I looked around, and then I asked my brother and my daughter and they both said they had not eaten them, at that point I had a mini snap moment. When it dawned on me to ask my son, who admitted he ate them. I lost it for a minute. After I realized I had gone off a bit. I caught myself and realized what was really going on, I hadn’t really eaten in a day and I was over tired among some other things. I realized that although I had prayed this morning and read my bible I had forgotten to get dressed. I had left mercy, kindness, tenderness, gentleness, patience and tolerance in my spiritual closet. Even my unconditional love I only had one sleeve on today. After I snapped out of it and came to myself. I asked for forgiveness and then apologized to my son.
It is so easy for us to take the time to make sure we are adorned well externally, but we forget that we need to apply that much time if not more to adorning our insides. We need to ensure that in and outside of our homes that we are representing Christ and that we are placing on us and inside our hearts daily the attributes and character of God. We think that because we go off in the house, or we think thoughts that are based in unforgiveness or lack of tolerance that we are okay, because no one can see them or us, but we are not. Dressing for success is not just an external act it is an internal act. It is about applying God to every area of our life, not just the areas people can see. No need to wear a skirt down to our ankles and we have the nastiest attitude in the world or we are walking around in unforgiveness, intolerance and offense. We need to ensure that we make sure the inside is looking better than the outside and the Christ is shining through. That God’s love is being seen and that His character is on display. Yes we all have bad days, but if we falter we need to be quick to let God, convict our heart and we should be quick to get it right with people and make a mends, with those we may have hurt or offended. Remember don’t go out half-dressed or undressed. Make sure you are putting your spiritual outfit together and wearing the heart of God and His character well, whether at home or out, you should be the best dressed person in the place!
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