Invisible Fabrics

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on your new self…” Ephesians 4:22-24.

I have always been entertained by the plot of The Emperor’s Clothes written by Hans Christian Andersen.  ‘It is based upon a vain Emperor who hires two swindlers who promise him the finest, best suit of clothes from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position or "hopelessly stupid". The Emperor's ministers cannot see the clothing themselves, but pretend that they can for fear of appearing unfit for their positions and the Emperor does the same. Finally the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they mime dressing him and the Emperor marches in procession before his subjects. The townsfolk play along with the pretense, not wanting to appear unfit for their positions or stupid. Then a child in the crowd, too young to understand the desirability of keeping up the pretense, blurts out that the Emperor is wearing nothing at all (Wikipedia.org).’   The emperor was suddenly mindful of the fact that the swindlers had tricked him, thus completely exposing him.

The emperor was deceived and we are no different.  We have a swindler who surrounds us with promises of greatness…mental attitudes of entitlement…encouragements of superiority.  Satan has both witnessed and encouraged us to clothe ourselves in his finest suit…ego…judgment…selfish desires…flesh agendas.  We march around in our garments which are invisible to others, not realizing that we are only ones who can see our greatness.  Eventually, that little childlike voice from within, the Holy Spirit, tugs on our self-made robes and says ‘you are not wearing the garment I gave you…you are naked.’ Suddenly, our mind sees crystal clear and we see that we have put off the clothes that Christ laid out for us.  As we walk out our days as Christians, our wardrobe is to be according to the Bible’s description.

‘Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience’ Colossians 3:12. ‘All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”’ 1 Peter 5:5.