Put On

I remember using a phrase in my younger days when someone had just said something hard to believe, either in general or because it was coming out of their mouth: “Are you putting me on?” There were other versions that I won’t quote here. Then there was our caring mother asking, “Did you put on clean socks and underwear?” Or the snow-country moms asking, “Do you have your mittens and hat?” knowing that at a given age, mittens and hats were passé for her lad.

Mom’s query could have been

the polite way of making sure we followed her rules. Scripture gives us several commands about what we are to put on. And for Christians, they are not optional. The Old Testament gives many instances of people putting on sackcloth, but I’m focusing on the New Testament. “Put on” is an action verb describing something we need to add to our personal “wardrobe.”

Here’s the list of items we are to put on: the armor of light (Rom.13:12); the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 13:14); the imperishable, immortality (I Cor. 15:51-55); the new self (Eph. 4:24); the full armor of God, gird your loins with truth, breastplate of righteousness, gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God (Eph. 6:11-17); a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Col. 3:12); love (Col. 3:14).

Take a moment and reread the list

and ask yourself how much your wardrobe needs updating. By the way, did you notice that these are all things we put on our inner man? Not to worry, God also provides His children with a robe of righteousness (Isa. 61:10), so we’re not found naked. It’s comforting to realize that God never asks something of us that He doesn’t provide. The above list is part of the “every good gift” we talked about two posts ago. The only qualification we need is to become a child of the King by coming to Jesus in humility, recognizing that our sin cut us off from His love and blessings and there’s nothing we can do about it to restore the relationship. It was all done by Him on the cross. For specific steps you might take, click here Steps To Salvation. Thanks for reading.