Properly Attired!

Properly Attired!

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12 NIV

Context:

Paul writes to the church in Colosse, and the target of today's message is identified in the very first verse: 'If ye then be risen with Christ'. That is the class of people Paul addresses here. It is not the crowd that made up the church at the time, but those who had identified themselves with Jesus. It is not just to know what his name sounds like, or to even know how powerful his name is, but to identify on a personal level with that name. The key word is to have 'risen' with him. 

Have I experienced this Jesus on a personal level? Does he even know me as his own? Am I the one who makes the claim while heaven has no record of my surrender and status? If I will enjoy all that Jesus offers, I have to start from the place of total surrender, which is the cross. Then, and only then, can I live the life that Jesus intends for me. Let it be known today: I will never fully grasp the full measure of Christ if I do not identify with his death. There is a dying to Satan, self and sin that happen, if I will live the life of God. 

Message and Response:

The class of people that is the target of today's extract is again made clear here: God's chosen people. Out of many, he chose me. Out of millions, he set his affection on me. Not to the exclusion of other people, but his love for me is peculiar. His love then calls for a particular response from me.

What is God asking of me: holiness is at the top of the list. That is his nature, and if I will walk with God, I have to walk in line with his nature. How can I claim to be God's child, and still wallow in sin? The righteousness of God in me is such that will not condone, excuse or tolerate sin. Sin and righteousness pulI in opposite directions, so it is impossible for there to be any harmony between them. 

When the nature is settled, then the nurture and the daily living is also settled. I must live, dress, talk and relate in line with the nature of God in me. Just as a particular occupation, such as a doctor or a lawyer, is known by the attire that aligns with it, so also is a child of God to be known by the attire that is worn. Is my allegiance to God obvious from the things that I do, how I relate, how I appear and how I talk? 

And as I check the things that make up my attire, I see a mixture of things that relate to my inner man, as well as my outer man. Whatever it is that God demands will touch both the inner and the outer man. God will change me from the inside, and the outside will testify of that inner change. That which I do not have, I cannot give. No matter how hard I try, I cannot make a grain of corn bear fruit that looks like oranges. My life will bear fruit in line with the  nature that it feeds. 

I take stock again now: who is in charge? Who is pulling the strings of my life? Does my life bear true allegiance to God, or am I faking it as I go along? A day of reckoning is coming; all that is secret now will be laid bare. The world is seeking a change; something different from the ordinary or the way it has always been. Would my life be that difference that will speak to the world? Am I part of the crowd in the world, fully compromised and blended in, or can God count on me, in this sinful and adulterous generation, to make a change and to stand for him? His time of favour is here.