I have heard it said that the things that you pack away in case you need them later are probably not really needed if you have not found a reason to use them for a year.

That sounds pretty reasonable, yet I have found that some of the junk that I put aside long ago occasionally comes in rather usefully.  I had an example of that not long ago.  As I was using my string trimmer I discovered that a part was broken.  I was not sure if I could purchase a part to replace it, so my mind started mulling over how I could improvise and make it work.  And then the light came on!  I remembered that I had an old worn out string trimmer that quit working a long time ago that just might have the part that I needed.  To my delight it had an exact match and the part worked perfectly! 

Once in a while junk becomes useful.  That reminds me of a request that my wife once made regarding some old useless clothing that still hung in my closet.  She told me that someone wanted the worn out old dress shirts that I had planned to throw away.  Furthermore, this same source would like to have my old sports jackets too.  Unfortunately, the request for my belongings was not because I am a celebrity whose discarded garments will bring big bucks on eBay (If any of my discarded belongings show up there and you buy some, bring them to me and I will gladly autograph them free of charge!). 

Why, then, would anybody want such useless junk?  Simple:  so the kids could use them for pretend dress up!

Children get a lot of joy out of putting on adult clothes that are many sizes too big and shoes that will swallow their little feet several times over.  There is no telling what goes on in their little minds as they visit the world of make believe. 

We are instructed in Scripture to clothe ourselves with certain spiritual garments.  But this directive has nothing to do with the world of make believe–it is genuine spiritual business.  It has to do with us becoming who God has called us to be in Christ Jesus.  When we put on the spiritual clothing that He has designed for us we begin to become equipped to effectively serve Him.

As we consider clothing ourselves spiritually, we would do well not only to put on the right things, but also to take off the wrong things in our lives.  In Colossians 3:8 we find these words:  “But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these:  anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips” (New International Version).  Once we have allowed God to remove those old filthy things from our lives, we must then allow Him to help us put on the new spiritual garments that He has for us:  “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” (verse 12). 

We pay a lot of attention to our physical clothing, and that is alright in its proper place.  But we must be careful not to neglect our spiritual attire.  Christ wants us to take off the things that are not like Him and put on the things that make us more like Him. 

The Church would be more attractive to those searching for spiritual truth if those of us who make up the Church would invite our Lord to help us dress spiritually in the beautiful behavior that He has called us to display.