New Clothes
Thursday, March 2:
As
God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves
with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and
patience.
Colossians
3.12
Saul needed a personnel visit from
Jesus to turn from the path he was walking to find his true path on a road
called Straight. We shouldn’t expect such dramatic intervention. Our sins, I
hope, are not so dramatic as Saul’s, but they will
bring Death just as surely.
As an example, my neglect of a
relative is a sin. Today, I cannot visit Olga, my last aunt, who crossed over
earlier this year. The reasons I didn’t visit do not bring her back. My
justifications are not, at their heart, just. I did not see her and now she is
gone.
Our rationalizations and
justifications for sin are just excuses. What justifications can we ever offer?
I hate you because … I steal from you because … I cheat on you because … we
know, in our hearts, that these “reasons” for sin do not excuse it. We fail to
stay on a straight path, but God does not fail to show it to us.
God calls us as His chosen people.
He calls us to be holy, separate from this world. He calls us to be loved. Yet, because we’re saved only through
Christ’s sacrifice, we should never be proud, lording
our salvation over anyone else. Instead we should wear the clothes Paul put on,
kindness, patience and humility, as we share His gifts with each other in this
dark, sinful world.
O God,
This Lent, help me to let go of
the baggage of this world.
Let the glittery robes of the
Deceiver turn dull in my eyes.
Let me dress in compassion and
kindness.
May I meet my brothers and
sisters in meekness and patience this season.
Grant me humility like your
Son, who humbled himself for me.
Let me repent again so I can
walk with You.
Amen
Dennis Blazak