| “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Col. 3:12 Heavenly Father, before we head out for the day, nothing is more normal than a little “mirror-time.” If we’re in hurry, the mirror is optional, but getting dressed isn’t. But there’s one “mirror” that should never be avoided—the Gospel. When we look into mirror of the Gospel, we’ll never see “bad-hair-day,” “dark-eye-circle-day,” “where did those new wrinkles come from?”, or “I’m-rockin’-it-day.” We’ll see, “chosen by your Father, holy, and dearly loved.” Hallelujah, these three things define us more than anything we’ll ever see in a well-lighted piece of reflection-glass. “Chosen by your Father”—which means you wanted us, Abba, adopted us, and delight in us as your beloved children. ”Holy”—set apart by grace, for a life of grace, and becoming like Jesus more and more. “Dearly loved,”—more so than we can imagine, have yet to experience, or consistently believe. No matter the temperature, moisture factor, wind, humidity, or activity of the day these three realities will not change, waver, or end. But as Paul states in our verse of the day, they should dictate what we dress our hearts with every day—several times if necessary. The garments of grace that never go out of style include “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Father, as we start this new week, may these 5 pieces of “Gospel-attire” be the most obvious thing about us among whom we work, live, and play. Always in season, always needed, always freely ours in Jesus—thank you Father. So Very Amen. |
