As we head into the vacation months, we need to remember to stay close to Jesus. When it comes to this time of the year, people start to take well needed vacations. A vacation is crucial to your emotional and physical health, but if you don’t stay close to Jesus, your spiritual health will decline. Staying close to Jesus is a “24/7 – 365” kind of thing!
I was thinking about the Apostle Paul when he said in Romans 13:14:
“Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”
It is interesting that Paul said something complementary to this in Colossians 3:12:
“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.”
When you think about it, both verses say a similar thing, or at least they work together!
What does it mean to clothe ourselves in Jesus? To clothe ourselves in Jesus means that with Jesus as our example, we stay in the Word, and we give it our effort to live in such a way that we are loving God with all of our being, and loving our neighbors as ourselves…and our neighbor is everyone. Jesus is not a cheap Halloween costume that we put on and take off when it suits us. We are not supposed to just wear Jesus when we go to church on Sundays. Being a Christian should mean always being clothed in Jesus. Think of this…when you go into a hospital you can tell who the doctors are by what they are clothed in. You can tell who the nurses and orderlies are by what they are wearing. You can even tell who the cleaning people are. I knew someone who worked in a hospital and in her hospital each department wore different color scrubs. That made it even more apparent who was who!
In the same way, being clothed with Christ should make us instantly recognizable and it should also communicate a clear message. We are clothed in Christ when we live our lives in a way that clearly communicates that we are disciples. It is our actions, the ways that we love God, and the way that we love others, that makes evident our faith. Church attendance gives us support in keeping clothed in Jesus.
People know we are clothed with our Lord Jesus Christ when they experience Jesus through us. This is not something that happens by chance. No one accidently becomes more like Jesus, we do so through intentional choices and effort.
To be clothed in Jesus means we stay close to Jesus! When you put clothes on, they make full contact with your body, right? We have to stay in the Word, and stay supported by our church friends. As we head into the vacation months, stay clothed in Jesus.
It is good to be your pastor!
In the Lord’s service till the last fish is caught, <><
Pastor Chris
