That in reference to your former manner
of life, lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in
accordance with the lusts of deceit,and that you be renewed in the
spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness
of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
Eph. 4:22-24
This passage doesn't mention cloth
directly, but it does talk about the taking off and putting on of
something. Later in chapter 6 these terms are used of putting on the
armor of God, which is clothing oneself for battle in the spiritual
realm...so I will ponder Ephesians 4 today as to how to dress my life
according to His will.
The fact that it says we are to take
off our old life means that it is what was covering us in the first
place. The verses around it talk of hard-heartedness, selfishness and
greed. It speaks of acting only in one's self-interest and not
considering the thoughts of God or the good of others. He speaks of
futile thoughts and darkened understanding and ignorance. This is not
a pretty sight. We are covered in sin and self-interest as children
of Adam and Eve, who believed that God was holding back something from them
and not trusting that He had their best interests in mind. They
thought they knew better than God when Satan told them that God was
being selfish. That act changed their perception of God and their
guilt led them to flee from His righteousness for fear of exposing
their corruption. And it continued through the days of Paul. He
appeals to those who trusted Christ to act like they were the new
people that God had made them. He saved them, but they had to step
with God and start taking off the old wardrobe of sin and replace it
with a whole new self. It was like they had been pulled off the
streets after living in the gutters and adopted into a new family.
They were given a new room in the Father's house, and the closet
was filled with a new wardrobe. They had access to the clean, untorn,
and beautiful clothes that had been provided for them, but they kept
putting on those filthy rags that came with them from the streets.
They didn't throw them away and dress in the garb befitting their new
status. They were no longer street urchins...they were children of
the King, but they didn't see themselves that way, nor were they
ready to assume the mindset and responsibilities of their new
position.
They were to become something totally
different from what they were. They were to be princes and princesses
in the King's house. They were new people. They would no longer
scrounge for food, wear tattered clothes, begging for work or
handouts, stealing and being stolen from. They didn't need to think
about themselves at all. As a child of the King, all would be
provided for them. But they were expected to act like royalty at this
point, not as selfish, frightened, and ignorant peasants. They were
to learn royalty. There would be lessons in conduct, character,
deportment, diplomacy, and international affairs. Their whole focus
would be on a higher calling.
We see rags to riches stories...and
sometimes we see leaders fail to act with the distinction that is
called for. They shame themselves and the country they represent. We
see kids get adopted by loving families, only to walk away or never
allow themselves to attach, even when there seems to be no logical
reason for not accepting the love extended to them. And we pity them.
They were given the opportunity to become someone else...loved
instead of unloved and unwanted. Honorable instead of dishonest and
despised. When given the choice to be remade, we can't seem to
understand why someone would choose to stay the way they are,
especially when the contrast is so striking. The following verses say
that even the Holy Spirit is grieved when we act like God's salvation
has no power in our lives to change our focus from ourselves and
where we came from to who we are now called to be and where we are
destined.
God says we have to renew our mind for
this new self to be put on. We have to accept the truth and start
acting like children in a fit of selfish rage. We are no longer
children of Satan and his pack of lies, but children of God and His
righteousness and holy calling.
Are you willing to be dressed in the
new garb of God's family and ditch those rags that focus your mind on
what you were and keep you from becoming what you are, which is a
child of the Most High?
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