Great and Unsearchable Things

Things the Lord gives me, and then I write them.

Monday, February 01, 2010

Can't See the Treasure for the Vessel

Modesty. What does it mean, or moreover, what does God mean when He uses it in His written Word? Let the Spirit of truth enlighten us.
This blog post is not a defense for showing your body, and trying to justify that. Not at all. Nor is it solely about what kind of clothes to wear, although it includes that. And it certainly is not about getting specific over inches about the knee, or cleavage or no cleavage, etc. The Spirit of God will lead us in all those areas, if we will hear Him.
Consider, though, by the Spirit of God, that God has used the word "modesty" to cover so much more than we have known or have previously been taught. In the word "modesty" is something that suggests attention not being shown to oneself. When we dress in certain ways, behave extremely, display our vast knowledge, or even material things we own, are we not being immodest? Don't all of these demonstrations draw attention to ourselves?
The unbelievers desire this lust for acknowledgement for who they are and what they do because "self" is all that they have. In humanistic thinking, they even applaud and glorify these desires, believing that it is being normal, or human. In fact, according to stages of human development, widely accepted in the psychological community called Maslow's hierarchy of needs, at the top of the pyramid (he says) is self-actualization.
But, we as believers, don't want to get in the way of revealing the treasure (Jesus Christ Himself) that is within us, do we? We don't want people gazing at our revealed body in such a way that they desire us, and thereby blocking the witness of the light of Christ in us, do we? And, anyway, what is that saying to the lost world, if we, like them desire the same self-glory and adulation they do? We don't want them admiring us because we have so much money (or have faked it by using our credit cards and are living above our means) that we can afford that shiny new Jaguar, or for them to think of us as "cool" because we have one, do we? Or, if people are impressed at the big house we live in, and want to be around us so they, too, can be "somebody" by association, than are we not, consciously or unconsciously, encouraging self-glory instead of glorifying Him in our lives. Well, what if we tell everyone the things we own or possess are because of God's provision? Aren't we glorifying Him then? God's glory need no words to prove itself, but He calls us to be living epistles, and in that way, His glory is shown. What if, for example, we gave our money for the poor, the outcast, and the lowest in society, thereby making a distinction of how His love and life shining through us, is contrasted with the unbelieving world who only know living solely for themselves? Would God's glory (Christ within us) , and not our own, be seen then. Let the Spirit reveal. And there are so many more ways God wants to reveal Himself through us if we surrender the desires of the flesh for His sake to be burned at the stake. Consider the stakes otherwise.
I believe God is wanting us to "choose" intentional, modest living so our vessel can be transparent and not clouded with images of ourself which block the light of Christ within us. This means allowing the lusts of the eye, the pride of life, and the lusts of the flesh to be surrendered to His baptism of death; being crucified with Him. In doing so, we will be considered outcasts in our society. But, we won't be alone, because Christ, too, was considered such. Let's die to live, so we can truly be a vessel of honor, so His glory can shine.

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