Dressed Right!

Dressed Right!

Colossians 3:12 KJV

[12] Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

There is a message in how I appear. We usually have a saying that you are addressed the way you are dressed. As it may apply in the physical, it has even deeper implications in the spiritual. Of course, the audience will also define and determine the expectations. The chapter from where the verse above is taken lays out the audience: people who have been raised with Christ into a new life, and who share His resurrection from the dead. This requirement is critical to the rest of the conversation, as no one can seek higher callings unless and until s/he has been raised up with Christ. You cannot aspire to heights only possible in God whilst you are living in the bubble of sin. It is the people who have been so raised who are empowered and enabled to aim at and seek the rich, eternal treasures that are where Christ is. Again, it shows that what I get is intricately tied to who I am connected to. 

Where I am will define what I get. These are fundamental truths that I cannot take for granted. I cannot afford to live carelessly or without thought to who I am or where I am headed. If I have settled the question of my identity in Christ, then I am required to look the part. I should not cause confusion by my inconsistent and unpredictable lifestyle choices. I cannot say one thing and do the very opposite. I am not allowed to make a claim to be something and then my life's pursuits and priorities show me as completely different. That is the lukewarmness and the hypocrisy that God says He hates and can lead to rejection. God says He has no use for anyone who is comfortable being lukewarm and He would spew such a person out of His mouth. Do I really looks the part? Can men say that I look, speak, relate and engage as someone who is clear about his person and identity? 

A few of the attributes that my life must show are also listed in the verse above: bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering. This picture above is one that shows a life that is producing in line with its identity. Bowels of anything show a never-failing supply. It means that whatever my life produces is not a one-off or an error; my life is producing fruit, in large quantities, and reflecting my ownership and allegiance. By God's grace, I note also that these attributes are first and foremost internal, before they are appreciated externally. Bowels reflect the internal receptacle from where value flows out of. If you are full of the Holy Spirit, it follows that your life will produce in line with your content. Of course, the opposite is equally true; if you are full of the world, it follows that your life too will look like your contents. I am encouraged by the verse above to focus on my control centre; my dressing will definitely reflect my ownership. God's time of favour is here.