“Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks.” [Luke 12:35-36 NLT]
Hi Beloved, I’m thankful for you today. Yes, you – the person that makes writing and posting these blogs worth it. I consider it a privilege that God would allow me to pour into some of His very own, so thank you for meeting me here.
I would like to start off with a seemingly random thought I had during the week which may be completely unrelated to the theme of today’s post – an epiphany I’d say. It’s this – we’re all looking for God in men. I know that sounds like a very basic and maybe even obvious statement but allow me to briefly elaborate. I often have a resounding reminder in my heart that God is looking for Himself in us – this explains the trials that He allows us to go through as well as His dedication to chastening us. Just as a natural father, His discipline is to develop good things in us. He refines us consistently because He is committed to seeing His image – perfection. Daily, as we choose to die to the flesh and endure various testings , we give the Spirit of God room to express Himself in and through us. This, I know. But recently, I thought about how the core things we deeply desire in (and from) men are attributes of God Himself.
I’m talking about core traits and values like faithfulness, loyalty, patience and thoughtfulness. You and I have a deep desire for a faithful and loyal friend. We yearn for a consistent companion. We have a deep desire to be fully known and loved. We have a deep desire to be loved intimately. We have a deep desire to be understood. We have a deep desire to be seen and supported. Do these only apply to me? What do you deeply long for in a partner or friend? What values do you hope he/she embodies? I’m talking about deep character traits or attributes that are at the root of the actions we hope for. Can you see that those are traits of God? So you see, not only is God longing to see us fully transformed into His image, we also yearn to see God in men. We all, sometimes unbeknownst to us, are eager for the transformation that yielding to Spirit of God guarantees in men. That’s it, that’s the thought that really blew my mind recently. We are all looking for God though we may not know it, and much too often, we settle for fragments of Him when we can enjoy all of Him if we would fully yield. Okay, enough with that thought. Let’s get into the post for today. May the Lord give us the wisdom and understanding to receive what He is saying in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
“Dress the Part”. Luke 12:35, our anchor scripture for today, which reads “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning” has been imprinted on my heart and mind. Both parts of that sentence hold so much weight and though I have often meditated on the latter part (“Keep your lamps burning”), the former(“Be dressed for service”) has had an unusual grip on my mind in the past few weeks… this explains the topic for today. It speaks to a state of readiness we must be in. Surprisingly, the reminder and prompting to delve into this topic came by way of a completely separate text I was reading in the scriptures – Col 3:12. It hit me that the manner in which we dress ourselves as believers in Christ Jesus is a qualifier of our identity in Him. Not only that, it is a determinant of the privileges we are entitled to. I’ll circle back to this scripture, but before I get there, I’d like us to reference a popular parable told by Jesus.
In Matthew 22, there is a story that really gets me, it induces what I’d like to call a holy fear… that story is called the parable of the great feast. I’ll give you a quick summary but I strongly suggest that you still take the time to read it for yourself. In this parable told by Jesus(which was an illustration of the kingdom of heaven), there was a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. Once the banquet was ready, the king sent his servants to inform the invited, but none of them came. All the invited guests, for one reason or the other, chose other engagements over attending this wedding feast. Some of the invitees even murdered the messengers and this upset the king. Since the invited people didn’t show up, the king extended the invite to everyone the servants could find on the streets and many were brought in – good and bad alike. Here’s a key part though : The king noticed a guest who wasn’t dressed for a wedding and inquired of him, “‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’“. The man had no reply and so the king commanded that he be bound and cast away into damnation for Many are called, but few are chosen[v.14].
Now listen, the fact that this story was an illustration of the kingdom of heaven tells us that this bears utmost significance for us today. The parable tells us that because a guest at the wedding inappropriately dressed, the king had his feet and hands bound, then had him thrown into outer darkness where there’ll be weeping and gnashing of teeth … that’s humbling. What I’ve learnt since pondering on this as well as many other scriptures is that there is a dress code to enter the kingdom of heaven, and there is a dress code required as a disciple and servant of Christ. This dress code could be a determinant of if a man gets to be reunited with Christ and the Father at last, or not. To be clear, this dress code is not a literal, material attire we must clothe ourselves with, but it is a spiritual attire that grants us access into places and spaces that the Lord would have us be. Our adherence to the dress code could affect our privileges just like the man invited to the wedding who was soon quickly cast out because he was dressed inappropriately. For starters, when we choose Jesus and accept the free gift of salvation, we are spiritually clothed in “white” as a symbol of sins atoned for by His blood. The blood of Jesus cleanses us and allowed us to be robed in His righteousness without which we cannot see the Lord. This, salvation, is an access card for the believer.
In a similar setting like the Parable of the great feast, the Bible tells us in Rev 19:8 that at the wedding feast of the Lamb, the bride has been given pure white linen to wear. It goes on to say that the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s Holy people Christ. Paul tells us in Ephesians that Jesus gave up His life for the church to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. And, Christ is coming back for a church for a glorious church without spot, wrinkle or any other blemish but rather holy, and without fault. The bride is us – you and I who make up the church. So, not only do we stop at accepting the free gift of salvation(which is primal) by believing and confessing the gospel, we have a call to work out our salvation by putting into practice the Word of God. I believe that this walk of submission to Christ is exemplified by our “good” deeds (pure white linen) which can only be produced by the Spirit of God. We do not depend on our good deeds to save us, we work out good deeds from our salvation by grace through faith.
Through out scripture, there are many references to how we ought to clothe ourselves as believers. Starting with the seed for today’s post – Col 3:12, I invite you to take a moment to meditate on the scriptures at the bottom of this post and assess the application of them in your life. God has set us apart, we have a call to dress the part and to walk worthy of His calling. Dressing the part has both earthly and eternal significance. Let us commit to proving by our deeds that we truly have repented. And remember, if and when we slip up, the blood of Jesus atones for us – we need only repent from our sin and to the Lord.
“I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels.” [Isaiah 61:10 NLT]
Before we get to the scriptures for meditation– The most important dress code:
The first and most important part of getting dressed right is the robe of righteousness you receive by accepting Jesus as your Lord and saviour. All other “good” deeds count for nothing in light of your eternity without this. Jesus paid a heavy price to enable us live guilt free lives in relationship with Our heavenly Holy Father who must judge sin as a righteous and holy judge. It was God’s wisdom to send His son who knew no sin as the atoning sacrifice for us all who would believe.
Scripture tells us that all we need to do is believe in our hearts that Christ is risen from the dead, and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, and we will be saved. {Romans 10:9}. Accepting this free gift, and accepting Jesus as Saviour and Lord is truly the gift that keeps on giving. Don’t miss another moment without this gift. Take a moment to pray, ask God to reveal Himself to you. Confess your belief, submit and watch Him move.
Dear Lord, I thank you for your child who has just made the best decision there is. I thank you for being a dependable and reliable father. I pray that you will strengthen your child and open the eyes of their understanding as they grow to know you more and more. Beautify their lives and use them for your glory. In Jesus name’, Amen.
“Dress Code” references
Please don’t just read these – meditate. Sit with yourself and the Lord for a moment and assess where you need to change clothes. You’re not in this alone. The Holy Spirit is available to help you get ready and stay ready.
“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.”[Col 3:12 NLT]
“….And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”” [1 Pet 5:5 NLT]
“..throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.” [Eph 4:22-24 NLT]
“The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.” [Romans 13:12-14 NLT]
“…Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.” [Phil 2:12-15 NLT]
“Then one of the elders responded, saying to me, “These who are dressed in the long white robes—who are they, and from where did they come?” I said to him, “My Lord, you know [the answer].” And he said to me, “These are the people who come out of the great tribulation (persecution), and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb [because of His atoning sacrifice]. ”[Rev 7:13-14 AMP]
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear.” For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God’s holy people. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.”” [Rev 19:7-9 NLT]
“..If we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.” [1 Jn 1:7 NLT]
“..If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [1 Jn 1:9 ESV]
“..lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” [Eph 4:1-2 NLT]
So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ. [2 Thes 1:11-12 NLT]
“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…” [Eph 6:11-18 NKJV]
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