What a lazy Sunday... the rain is drip, drip, dripping, and it just looks cold outside the window. What a difference a few days can make! As the weather forecasters map out Hurricane Sandy, they are saying we could have snow in a couple of days. Snow! I'm so not ready for this kind of weather...
Ready or not, though, it will be here. Today I am finishing a leadership paper for class, and hope to get started on a presentation for another class. I got up kind of early, though, and read some in my Bible, my Esther study, and the Unglued book. I also read in Colossians. The verses I read were food for my soul, and maybe you could use them, too.
"Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self[d] with its practices 10 and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your[e] Creator. 11 In Christ[f] there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian,[g] slave and free; but Christ is all and in all. 12 Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, 13 accepting one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. 14 Above all, put on love—the perfect bond of unity. 15 And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful."- Colossians 3:9-15
Okay, I only read verses 9-14 this morning, but it's kind of one big long passage that doesn't make sense without the rest of it. It's a comparison of righteous vs. unrighteous living. In Christ, we have been made new... brand spankin' new. So why don't we act like it? Our fleshly tendencies still creep out from time to time. We aren't to lie (and sometimes lies of omission, where we just don't say anything, are just as bad). We've put off the old practices... but it is so hard to do sometimes. As I was reading Unglued this morning, a quote really stuck out to me. "Comfort zones aren't always comfortable... they are just familiar." And who doesn't like the familiar? I know I for one don't like change...even sometimes when it is for the good, because I don't know what to expect.
Here's the part I really liked, though. We can be renewed... and it's fairly easy. In this verse, it says renewal comes through the knowledge of Christ. How do we get that knowledge? In His Word... "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God."... Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. His Word is readily available. We just have to be willing to make it a priority. And shouldn't daily renewal be a priority in this world, when we are rushed and hurried and just plain tired? Amen and amen!
The verses then go on to say that there is no difference in us as humans... because Christ is all and is in all. He is our all in all, our everything, our enough, regardless of the situation, and He is for everyone. It is our choice to make.
Then, the new wardrobe we are to put on... of kindness and meekness and humbleness, of patience and compassion. Who doesn't want to be seen as all of these things? But oh, isn't it hard to dress that way? Sometimes don't you just have your mean girl outfit on? I know I do... complete with barbed wire and barbed tongue. The key to obtaining this heavenly wardrobe is to put on love. Wear love. Radiate love... always. Love others, because we were loved. Forgive others, because we were forgave. And then, as I've been preached to all week, be thankful.
Thanking God for each other. Thanking God for the nasty weather. Thanking God that papers will get submitted and presentations will get done and I will be able to rest... if only for a minute. Thank you, God.
No comments:
Post a Comment