Clothed by God not man
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10)
Hello Saints,
ell, I’m going to confess that I enjoy watching golf, especially the big-name tournaments, with the big-name players. It’s a peaceful way to relax and unwind, and it’s one of the few sports that I could actually participate in without much pain and injury. If you know anything about golf, it is an individual game, where one battles emotions and thoughts, and one has to wrestle with and subdue the inner-man and keep telling oneself that it is just a game. Unless you’re a pro career player, you really can’t take golf too seriously. It’s just a past time…lots of time and lots of money. Of course, the pros are in it to win and make lots of money, and that they do. Now there are four prestigious tournaments to be won, and very few people have won all four of them in a career to hold the Grand Slam of Golf title. Maybe you’ve heard of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, two of only 6 people who have ever achieved this. The most prestigious tournament is The Masters, where the winner is crowned by being robed in a coveted “green jacket”. Yesterday, Rory McIlroy after 17 attempts to win the green jacket and 11 attempts to achieve the Grand Slam title accomplished his childhood dream by attaining both. The crowning moment was when the green jacket was placed on his back and the crowd cheered exuberantly. Now what? What more is there to do?
So, after a Sunday afternoon wasted in front of the television, the thoughts come to me: the world crowns its heroes and lavishes fame on its victors, to what end? What eternal value has any of it? The winners of all sports are recorded in the decaying annals of history, and thousands of trophies gather dust on shelves across the globe. Thousands of hours of practicing and competing, and many more thousands of dollars spent on chasing a green jacket that moths will eventually destroy, or fire burn up. Watching last year’s champion put the jacket on this year’s champ gave me a picture of God placing a robe of righteousness on me. I didn’t earn it or deserve it, nor did I do one simple thing to achieve it. By grace, by His choosing, because of His great love, and the sacrifice of His One and only Son, I get crowned victorious. Mercy! “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus does all the hard work, bears all the cost, and I get the valuable cloak…Incredible! I can’t take any applause; the cheers belong to my Savior alone! Yet, because of Him I am victorious and more than a conqueror. He pays the price, that agonizing, grueling showdown against sin and death on a cruel cross, and I am wrapped in salvation and adorned as a bride at her wedding! I have only one response to such great achievement! I must rejoice not in my accomplishments, but in the One who finished it all for me: “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God.”
Oh friends, as we head into this holy week of Easter, maybe we can be a little more vocal by cheering a little louder for our victorious King who defeated the opponent and won the victory on our behalf. Maybe we can spend a little more time in gratitude that instead of a green jacket hanging in my closet, on me has been placed a garment of salvation and a robe of righteousness that will never be taken off, and with which I am able to attend the marriage supper of the Lamb. Praise be to God for His mercy and grace!
Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD. Satan was there at the angel's right hand, accusing Jeshua of many things. And the LORD said to Satan, "I, the LORD, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from a fire." Jeshua's clothing was filthy as he stood there before the angel. So the angel said to the others standing there, "Take off his filthy clothes." And turning to Jeshua he said, "See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes." Then I said, "Please, could he also have a clean turban on his head?" So they put a clean priestly turban on his head and dressed him in new clothes while the angel of the LORD stood by. (Zechariah 3:1-5 nlt)
Have a great week!
"Advancing the Kingdom of God by releasing Spirit-filled followers to serve Jesus in freedom and joy."
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