Dressing Up For Jesus

A couple of actors through the years have impressed me with their character. This is something we don't often see when looking at them through the characters they play on the screen. The characters they play typically have much less character than the character the actors who impress me have shown. Ouch, quit trying to be clever at this time of the morning! Of course a 'couple' out of the hundreds of actors I have watched in this age of movies and television shows is not a very good batting average. That is not entirely my fault or theirs, we tend to have much more of celebrity mistakes and bad behavior presented to us in the media than their good works and gentle behavior. What we are given to watch or see most of all though is their outward adornment.

Back in the day, Peter the apostle gave some advice directed toward the women of the church. However, these days the adornment is expected of all of us and thus the advice is good for the men too. "Do not let your adornment be merely outward - arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel - "(1 Peter 3:3) Peter called us to work beyond that without setting aside that outward adornment that is so pleasing to the eye. In verse 4, Peter continues, "- rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God." Dressing up for Jesus includes the hidden person we find much more difficult to beautify.

The hidden person does tend to reveal him or her self in our speech and expression. Vicious and cutting remarks, gossip, mean guesses, and all sorts of other hateful things show that the hidden person needs some dressing up, and perhaps a bit of a dressing down so to speak. Fortunately for us, at salvation Jesus sends His dear Holy Spirit into us and He goes right to work on that hidden person, the depths of the heart where evil lurks. We don't fight the battle of the mind alone anymore! While we prepare ourselves for work this morning, let us thank God for His help in dressing up for Jesus.

Have a great and godly day at work today!

Bucky