March 16, 2024”
Read Numbers 5, Psalm 75, Colossians 3
Think about a time when you got filthy or dirty. What were you doing? Working on a vehicle? Doing some yard work? Or maybe something that involved children! I remember a time when I was a kid that we had been playing outside in the woods all day and in the creek. We had gotten covered in dirt and mud. When we came back to the house we had to strip down to out skivvies on the back porch before entering the house. We went right to the shower and got cleaned up and put on a new set of clean clothes. My grandmother was a clean freak. Once when my brother and I went out to spend a week with them in Yazoo City, Mississippi we set a record of four showers in one day. If we went outside for five minutes we had to take a shower.
Colossians 3 encourages us as followers of Christ to change our clothes also. “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” vv. 9-10. Paul uses this metaphor to talk about the change a person goes through when they decide to follow Jesus. Since we have “taken off” our old practices and behavior, we “put on” the new that reflects our Savior and Lord. Paul lists out some of the things we should take off, “You must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips” v. 8. As a Christian it’s not just enough to take somethings off, unless we want to resemble the emperor’s new clothes, we must also put on godly traits that reflect Christ. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” vv. 12-14. The last “garment” Paul says to put over everything is “love.” This is what people should see in and “on” us most of all.
What else do you see in these chapters? What questions do you have? What words, phrases, or themes stand out to you? Add your thoughts below.
DId God Really Say... 