I have spent some holiday time with my cousins and their families. The kids said they were doing the snow dance to try and keep me a bit longer. It has been such a refreshing time being surrounded by my family and all the children. I have to give a shout out to the twelve year old that gave up her room for me. Not only did she give up her room, before I came she told her mom that she must prepare her room for her guest. She thoroughly cleaned her room and decorated it for Christmas—scented candles, Christmas tree and all. She even had her mom and dad get new Christmas bedding, to include a new comforter and sheets.
Ah, the sheets! They are white (my favorite kind) and soft and comfy. They are warm without even needing a blanket. I have to laugh because the sheets on my bed at home live a rough life. I wash and put them back on the bed over and over and over…and over. They are just right, and with really nice sheets being so expensive, they have to last until they wear out. I don’t see new ones very often.
The previous set of sheets I had got a tear about in the center of the fitted sheet. I knew that even though the tear was small, they would not last long. So I got a piece of soft fabric that I thought would match. I stitched it to the underside of the fitted sheet. The very first time I slept on the sheet, the next morning when I woke up I saw that the sheet had completely torn away from the patch. The small tear was a large, unrepairable tear. I kind of knew that it would not work, but was hoping that I could make the patch large enough that it would be OK.
It made me think about the passage in the Bible that talks about patching old cloth or garments with new cloth. Right before that particular verse Jesus had been confronted by some people that wanted to know why His disciples did not fast like John’s disciples and the Pharisees did. His response was to ask them if wedding guests fast while they are celebrating with the groom. Of course not, but He told them that the groom would be taken away from them and then they would fast then. He seemed to be alluding to change coming. I believe that change was the gift of salvation He was getting ready to purchase for the world.
So here in the verse I was thinking of, Mark, 2:21, Jesus goes on to explain the difference between old and new. He told them if they had an old garment that had a tear in it, they would not patch over the tear with a brand new piece of material. This would not work, because once washed, the area that was patched would be torn worse, seeing as the new material would shrink, damaging the garment even more than it was because the stronger new material when washed would cause the weaker threads in the old garment to pull away thereby leaving a bigger tear in the garment.
For those of us that are following Christ, what is the challenge of this verse? In most commentaries that I read, this verse was referring to the conflict between old, the Law and new, the teachings of Jesus. I believe the challenge for us could be in how we approach our Christian lives. Have we attempted to layer the teachings of Jesus onto our old lives as sort of a patch, but are still trying to keep the parts of our old lives that we found comfortable? Just trying to use the teachings of Jesus to superficially mend our old lives will not give us new life and does not assure us of salvation.
How can we apply this to our lives? The clean, newness of Christ’s sacrifice cannot just patch over and mend the new life that He offers us onto sporadic, random areas of our old lives. In applying this to our lives we need to accept the whole new garment that Christ offers and stop trying to keep patching up or mending the old one. Why would we want a patched up life when we could have a brand new life?
What does this mean to my faith? My faith is strengthened when I realize that even the new life that Jesus gave me may get some bumps and bruises on it. The thing is, He gave me a perfect salvation garment that will cover those bumps and bruises perfectly and they will fade away in eternity and my salvation garment will last, without need for repair throughout eternity.
Thank You Lord for providing the perfect way to salvation without any patches. Thank You for the completely new Salvation garment that is the only thing God will see. He won’t see my struggles and mistakes and bumps and bruises because that perfect garment will be covering it all. All He will see is my new life in Christ.
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“No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.” Mark 2:21 (KJV)
“No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.” Matthew 9:16-17 (KJV)
“In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.“ Hebrews 8:13 (KJV)
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)
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I feel that since God has given me the gift of this platform, I must always tell you about my Jesus.
What is your relationship to the all-knowing God of the universe? Do you know Jesus, the One who will give you the perfect salvation garment? Do you know the peace that can come only from an intimate relationship with Him? You can know Him. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, born into human flesh, sinless, crucified and giving His life freely, buried, arisen on the third day, will come into your life and change the outcome of your eternity. You just have to be willing to believe and accept His truth.
Here is an excellent website that can give you additional information about making your decision for Jesus Christ! PeaceWithGod.net
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Restricted Vision, Unburdened Sight 