This devotion is by JAMES GRAY who serves the United Church Hermanus.
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...Do not lie to each other since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its creator... As God's chosen people clothe yourselves with compassion ... Colossians3:1-17
Apart from some slow-starters down in the Western Cape most readers of this short Saturday reflection are probably dressed and ready for action. How long did it take you to get dressed? Women generally are more thoughtful about such matters than guys who, on a Saturday at least, tend to grab the nearest pair of trousers and a twice-worn shirt and feel they are presentable. The process takes 60 seconds at the most.
Have you ever thought of your growth in Christian virtues and values as in some way like getting dressed in the morning? In the third chapter of Colossians St Paul speaks of 'taking off' your old self and 'putting on' the new self. A few verses later he urges us to 'clothe ourselves' with compassion and kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
If you like, that is our Christian dress code. When we get dressed we should pause for a moment and consciously 'put on' those qualities. Its great to have a cupboard fill of fragrances and aftershaves but if we paid a little more attention to 'putting on','clothing ourselves' or 'splashing' ourselves (not Paul's but mine) in the aromas of the gospel then we might find that people begin to take notice of the Christ within us.
There is a great deal to chew on in Colossians 3 but if you want to know what a new life looks like then read it carefully. Having said that, if we were to evaluate our lives by what is written there we might have to admit that we are 'a work in progress'. But at very least, verse 17 might motivate us to aim higher: "And whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."
You may remember how Johann Sebastian Bach used to write six letter on his completed musical scores: JSB and SDG. The first set were his own initials, the second stood for Soli Deo Gloria - To the glory of God alone.
Are those letters inscribed over your life?
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
