New clothes have a very positive effect on us don't they? I mean, you can be having a pretty bad day and find a sale at some clothing store and get inspired by a new pair of jeans or that cool shirt that makes you look good. New clothes have a way of giving us a "new groove" that makes life a little more enjoyable. Some may say it's a "chick thing", but us guys know we like it too, so quit denying. There is also a "new groove" for those who know Christ and we are to be clothed with Jesus Christ and His way of living. In other words, the old saying "No Jesus, No change, Know Jesus, Know change" is very true. When we accept Christ and He becomes "LORD" of our life, a radical change does take place. Paul, as only Paul can do, illustrates this change and the new way we are to be clothed in our lifestyle and our faith. In Colossians 3:9-11 says. "9Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. 10 Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete.11 Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.
The world's way of weighing people's worth is a very cruel thing and the social status of a person is judged by those who wish to put themselves in a position of God-like proportions. These "judges" tend to be very biased at best, and their bias always leans toward themselves. Sadly, this happens in Christian Life, as well as, secular, and it's something we as Christians should never allow to be a standard in our faith. Like certain sins that some allow as OK, but in reality they are not OK, that bias allows nominal followers to live a double life; some of the world and some of the Lord. The Apostle Paul says, "this cannot be anymore." Why? We are different when the Holy Spirit is in our life!! Paul addresses this same subject in 2 Corinthians 5:17, where he says, "Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it!! The word burgeons means "to flourish!" So, the old groove is dead and the new groove has taken hold and is growing. Our old clothes don't fit anymore and a new set of clothes are being seen on our life. In fact, the old clothes are obsolete, or not in the picture anymore. That's why a person who accepts Christ is radically changed in lifestyle and direction, they aren't the same person anymore, and the old person is dead. DEAD!!!
I would be considered rather dumb to go to a store and get new clothes and then take them home and never wear them. It would be considered a wasted expense for nothing. The expense of Christ dying on the cross for my new groove should never be wasted by me trying to wear the old garments of my past life. I should be living large with my new groovy Christlike life. Things that snare other people, don't snare me. Where there is worry and heartache in others, you only find peace and faith in me. Do you have Christ in your life? Then you have a new groove! Read God's Word and find out what that groove looks like and start living large in those clothes and see how radical the change is for you and others who know you. Living for Christ is very appealing when people see real life change. They are drawn to it!! If you continue to live out of the past life, you are only stopping the true Gospel from being seen by a lost and dying world. Time to change clothes and put on a new groove. This groove is given to us by God, who is over all. It is our Master's Groove, and it is eternal.
The Pilgrimage continues....
David Warren
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