Clothing
I will admit that my first thoughts about this study were
legalistic in nature. Tell me what’s
okay to eat so I can lose some weight.
Help me clean out my closets.
Teach me how to downsize my possessions and reduce clutter in my
home. It wasn’t about growing closer to
the Lord, but about feeling better about myself regardless of where I stood
with Him. Ouch!
Narrowing the wardrobe down to seven items for a week was a
bit tough. It would have been easier to
take vacation from work and sit around the house in the same pair of Jeans and
just change my shirt. But, no. I generally choose the more difficult
path. Black slacks, jeans, 3 blouses, 1
t-shirt, black pumps/sneakers. Pretty
sparse. And I even attended a corporate
employee appreciation dinner during this week.
Thank the Lord undies, socks, nightgowns and coats didn’t count. It was actually kind of fun to plan and see
this work out. Sure I did laundry more
often, but I definitely washed fewer pieces!
In spite of this, I didn’t experience any groundbreaking
moments this week. So I had to go
hunting on my own for my second battle strategy.
Second step in the
battle plan: Put on the whole armor of
God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Remember, we are at war!
And the battle is primarily spiritual.
Are you putting on your armor every day?
Do you even know what the whole armor of God is made of? Ephesians 6:11-18 identifies the components
of the armor. Are you repairing the
areas the armor that have been damaged in the fight? To do this, you must be examining the armor,
inspecting the nicks, removing debris.
We also need to practice.
Warriors don’t just run to the battlefield. They train, exercise, run practice drills and
scenarios. But how can we do this with
regard to spirituality? Read God’s
Word. Study it. Meditate on it. Memorize it.
Obey it. Know the truth. Be sure of your salvation. Share the gospel. Pray.
Sounds like quite a “To Do” list.
Actually, it’s a lifestyle.
I’ve been reading the Word every morning in compliance with
my first step in the battle plan: Seek
first God’s kingdom and His righteousness.
In addition to that, I’ve been praying about what I’ve read, chewing on
God’s Word with Him. I’m sharing what
I’ve learned with others. And that’s a
good start.
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