Take Off the Old Rags and Put on the New Garment

Have you ever had a childhood item that you loved? That thing may be worn, dirty, and falling apart, but you hold on to it because of sentimental value such as the memories attached to it . That item could be anything. It could be cloths, a toy, or even a picture. In many of our lives the old sentimental thing that we hold on to is our sin. We attach unhealthy sentimental values it. Many of these sins originated in our childhood so we hold on to it and in most cases, hope that no one ever sees it. Not every sin is private, some people are wide open with their sins because it is socially acceptable to take part in such things, or they have stooped caring what other people think it.

Like those childhood items, we may tuck our sins away and bring them out in secret. In some cases, we even form unions with people who are holding on to the same item (sin) that we are holding on to. The items (sins/ demons) have been with us so long, we don’t know how to function without it. Today, God wants those items. He wants the junk, the secret things, the hide always that many of us have never revealed to another person. The beauty of God is that when you allow Him to take that hold thing, He will give you something new, clean, and pure in place of it.

“Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens,

and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 NLT).

I understand shame and embarrassment because of the old things that have become a prison. I know what it’s like to pretend and hope that no one sees the truth. In the season that we are in, and in the place that God wants to take us, we have to give our all to Him. God does not deserve the broken fragments that fit nowhere. What can God do with a broken vase if all the pieces are not present for Him to fix it? How can God restore you to good health in Him if you are hiding some pieces of your heart, no matter how ugly it is, behind your back? God wants it all.

He loves us no matter what we have done, but we have to trust that. We have to trust that God would never cause a thing to be revealed in our lives with the intention of hurting us. God wants the shame, the hurt places, the ugly things that we are dealing with. God wants us to take off the garments of the past and put on new cloths. We are more than what we have done in the past. God wants to bath us with His love and forgiveness, but first you must come, be willing, and come to terms with the fact that you are dirty even if you try to convince yourself and others that you are clean.

God has new cloths that He has laid out for us to put on. He has new memories that wants to give us. He even has a new smell that He wants to give us, but how bad do you want it? God has beauty waiting for you in Him. He has new thoughts and adventures waiting with your name on them. God wants to dust off the shelves and clean out your skeleton closet.

Lord I thank you for calling me out of darkness and into your marvelous light. I thank you for your love, your cleansing, your beauty, and your forgiveness. I thank you for making sense of the many messes that I have created for myself and I thank you for mercy. Thank you for never leaving me although I deserved to be left. Thank you for the blood of Jesus and the freedom that it attached to it and Him. Lord, I pray to forgive myself and to keep nothing hidden from you. I pray that you deal with anything in my life that is and will hinder me in my future. I want to have total freedom in you, In Jesus name, I pray amen.

“So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free”

(John 8:36 NLT).

Recommended Reading: Isaiah 61

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