Immaculate attire

"Put on Christ, and thereby make no provision for the mere gratification of unwholesome pursuits and ambitions". Romans 13:14.

It's been a somewhat "bracing" week here in the UK, with temperatures allowing frost and ice and a biting reminder that winter is truly upon us.

With the current "visitation" of national energy constraints, the imperative to 'wrap up warm' is truly apt, and yet, on a morning like today, there is still something truly toasty about awaking in the morning chill and golden light wrapped in nothing but a cosy duvet.

This is because, of course, of the majesty and dignity the Lord Himself has invested in the splendour of what He has made us (Genesis 1 & 2), materially and spiritually, to be - so how do we bring such gifts into their true place of both delight and service? How, indeed, do we heed Paul's exhortation above and be those clothed in our beloved Lord?

In his epistle to the Colossians, the same Paul pens "As those chosen by God, beloved and holy, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility and patience" (3:12). The Apostle tells us that in Christ, we are already furnished with astounding care and complete righteousness (that is exactly what holiness amounts to), but that as such beloved people, we can now dress our lives with virtues that will 'speak' so beautifully of the life that we have inherited.

I spend much of my time in a uniform which 'identifies' me as a particular kind of worker in a very specific workplace - it 'clothes' me with particular roles and responsibilities that facilitate my engagement with my associates and the business, so there are clear benefits (necessities) in being so adorned, but it would be foolish of me to believe that these garments, duties and actions alone actually define me or even the total extent of my relationship at the office - they are a means to an end - a channel to something even richer and deeper.

God has clothed us in the 'uniform' of Christ because he wants that adorning to allow an even more marvellous splendour to flourish from this source - one replete in the virtues Paul points to here. Christ's life poured into us "clothes" us with a beauty and splendour above and beyond the 'norm'. It is married to a 'joy unspeakable', and a relish to engage with the "Father of light', who has seen fit to prepare a table of every good gift for us, even in the wilderness of this present evil age.

We can indeed, as Carrie Willard notes, "take our rest in the knowledge that God sees us now holy and beloved even if we can't see or feel that holy clothing ourselves. He is the one who wraps us in compassion and kindness, provides humility, meekness and patience (what a mercy!), because He has chosen to do this for us".

As we face the 'winter's rage' or revel in the golden rays of another morning, may this amazing treasure truly furnish us in our everyday lives. Jesus, our only saviour, lives with us.