Friday, April 7, 2017
A well known pastor was flying home after attending a conference. Right before the plane took off, he noticed this lady who was rushing in and just happened to take the seat next to him. She was wearing sunglasses, a baggy cap which was pulled down low, a baggy sweater, and a bright orange sweat suit. He was tired, so as soon she sat down next to him, he decided to take a snooze. When he woke up and noticed the lady sitting next to him, he was shocked at what he saw. Under the frumpy attire was this amazingly beautiful young woman. As it turned out, she was an actress who was traveling incognito.
The gospel is like that. It is a beautiful thing but we can either adorn it or make it unattractive to others. In his letter to Titus, Paul gave him this instruction: “Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. (Titus 2:9-10) The NIV says it this way: “so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.” The point is that is that we can adorn our life in Christ or make it unattractive to others by the way we conduct ourselves.
As in the case of the pretty young lady in the plane, we can do the same by the way we dress. To be sure, our salvation does not depend on the way we dress but the bible does say that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and according to I Corinthians 6:20, we are to glorify God in our body as well as in our spirit. We often go to great lengths to pretty up our cars, homes, lawns, etc. Why, then, can’t we make that kind of effort to make ourselves look as good as we can? The lady in the plane had a reason for “dressing down.” She obviously wanted to avoid making a scene. If she had been on an awards show walking the red carpet, on the other hand, you can bet she would do the opposite. Do God’s children have a good reason to “dress down?” I repeat: we can adorn the gospel by the way we dress. I am not suggesting we over dress but I am saying that if we are the children of God, the better we look, the better the gospel looks to others. I can’t speak for everybody, but as far as “dressing up” is concerned, some of us need all the help we can get. Perfume, soap, shaving lotion, deodorant, hair products, toothpaste, and mouthwash can be a great help too. Don’t hide the better looking you.
God’s word for today: (Isaiah 61:10) “I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”
