December 12, 2022
Melissa Valerio
When I was young, I spent a couple of years living with my grandparents in the small town of Tekoa, Washington. Oh, what fond memories I have. Grandma’s delicious cinnamon jumble cookies, Grandpa smelling like the combine when he came home from the wheat farm, picking up pinecones from around the yard, going to the annual ice cream social at the high school in town. So many good times were spent there. One of my best memories, however, was going to Sunday school. Not so much to learn about Jesus (sorry, Lord! 🙂) but really, I loved to see all the fancy dresses the women wore. The beautiful, colorful, fancy dresses and hats that came out only on Sundays. Sunday Best.
Sunday Best attire is usually the top notch in the closet. Reserved for presenting yourself to the Lord with the best of what you’ve got. Nowadays attire at church has moved toward casual to comfortable. I’m of the opinion that it doesn’t really matter what you wear (covered in all the right places, of course), just so long as you come! Jesus never insisted we clean ourselves up before coming to Him. He tells us to come as we are! But more importantly than being clothed on the outside is being clothed on the inside. Thankfully, coming to Jesus just as we are puts us in the perfect position to receive His clothing. And what’s that clothing, you might ask? Isaiah 61:10 tells us — “I rejoice greatly in the Lord, I exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a groom wears a turban and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” (CSB) These garments of salvation and robes of righteousness are what are necessary in order to spend eternity with the Lord. Matthew 22:1-14 explains this in the parable of the wedding banquet. The king holds a wedding banquet for his son and invites many people, but they all reject the invitation. Eventually, the servants of the king went out and brought in anyone they could find, good or bad. Yet there’s one man the king sees that doesn’t belong. Would you guess how the king knew he didn’t belong? His clothing. “When the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding. So, he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'” (Matthew 22: 11-13 CSB) The wedding clothes the king required are (garments of) salvation and (robes of) righteousness.
The apostle Paul wrote about the body being clothed with incorruptibility in his first letter to the Corinthians. It reads “For this corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body must be clothed with immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:53 CSB) Naturally, since we need an appropriate body for where we live. Fish need a body suitable for water, birds need a body suitable for the sky, humans need a body suitable for earth, and spirits need a body suitable for eternity. Since sinful bodies, whether human or spirit, cannot dwell in heaven, the question is… which body will we be clothed in once we leave this earth? A body suitable for heaven? Or a body suitable for hell? There’s only one Person that can clothe us with the garments required for the wedding banquet (heaven), and that’s Jesus Christ. Sunday Best attire is pretty darn nice. But there’s one even better — Christ Best. The clothing that only Jesus can give, and the only clothing that will matter in the end.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for coming to this earth to bring us salvation. Because of Your sacrifice, we can be wrapped with salvation and righteousness. We can come to the banquet and stay for eternity. Thank You for clothing us in Your blood and calling us back to You. In Your holy and blessed name, Amen.
Action: If you have not accepted Jesus as your Savior and you want to spend eternity with Him, ask Him into your heart today. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins, ask Him to come and make His home in your heart, and ask Him to lead you into the truth. This is the most important decision you will ever make! Let’s show off our Christ Best attire in heaven together!! 😊
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