LAYERS

Ephesians 4:17-24 (NRSV)

Now this I affirm and insist on in the Lord: you must no longer live as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart. They have lost all sensitivity and have abandoned themselves to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. That is not the way you learned Christ! For surely you have heard about him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus. You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

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If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- 1 John 1:9 (NRSV)
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WHEN I go walking in winter, I wear layers of clothing. Starting out I am bundled, muffled, and gloved. As my body warms up, I adjust my garments. I loosen my scarf, then unwind it completely. I take off my gloves, then put them in my pocket. I unzip my jacket. I take off my hat. I'm prepared for cold mornings, but it's a nuisance to carry all my stuff while I'm walking.

I carry other layers as well - spiritual layers. I am wrapped in faith, padded by love, and adorned with creativity. I am bound by pride, tied with resentment, and constricted by anger and envy. Some of these layers should go. If only it were as easy to slip off my pride as it is to take off my gloves!

The release I felt today freeing my body from extra clothes is like the release my soul craves from my sin and all that weighs me down. I have already been given the permission, the forgiveness, to toss all these weights aside and walk free. Christ Jesus gave me that freedom when he died for me. I am the one still hauling ugly burdens. I have to be willing to remove the layers. I have to loosen my grip and let them go. And I want to do that; I want to walk free.

Prayer: Thank you, Father God, for giving your son to die for us. Help us each day to make small changes that will free us to be more fully yours. Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
What burdensome layer can I peel off today?

-- Lisa Bogart (California, U.S.A.)

PRAYER FOCUS: For willingness to change