This morning when I got up I had this scripture echoing in my heart:
“Strength and honor are her clothing and she shall rejoice in time to come” (Proverbs 31:25).
The NLT version reads,
“She is clothed with strength and dignity and she laughs without fear of the future.”
I thought about this verse and how I could apply it to my life today. So many references in the Bible speak of a daily walk with the Lord.
Joshua 24:15 says, “Choose this day whom you will serve.”
Matthew 6:11 says, “Give us this day our daily bread.”
Jesus said in John 6:35 “I am the Bread of life.”
Deuteronomy 30:16 says, “I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God.”
I think you get the picture. What does this have to do with the verse on my heart today? I’d like to use an illustration my friend Beth Stephens used when preaching on the garment of praise. Each day when I get ready, I pick out my clothing for that day. Just picking out my clothes isn’t enough. It takes effort on my part to actually clothe myself. So I also must choose the clothing to wear each day spiritually speaking. Will I wear the clothing of the world, or will I be clothed in strength and honor, in other words in God’s ways? Once I’ve picked out my clothes, I have to actually make the effort to put it on as well.
Job 29:14 says, “I put on righteousness and it clothed me.”
And may I add that it isn’t my own righteousness I put on, for I have no righteousness within myself, but it is Christ’s righteousness I put on (Philippians 3:9).
Psalm 132:9 says, “Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; let thy saints shout for joy.”
You and I are in the royal priesthood if we have accepted Christ (1 Peter 2:9).
Galatians 3:27 says, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
As we choose to be clothed with strength and honor and put on Christ’s righteousness, the reward for that effort is that we will be full of joy and will laugh without fear of the future, for we know that God has our future in His hands (Jeremiah 29:11).
Acts 2:28 says, “Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.”
Then I thought about a song I love to sing, “Consider the Lilies.” We don’t need to live in fear of tomorrow, for God already knows everything we will face and everything we need, and He’s already mapped out how He will care for us and meet that need. Our responsibility for today is to clothe ourselves in His strength, honor, and righteousness, letting His joy fill our lives.
Consider the lilies how they grow; they toil not; they spin not, and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then, God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? (Luke 12:27–28)
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