Cleaning out the Old

When are you most productive? I was asked this question once by a dear friend of mine who has been an incredible help in choices that I've had to make in the last few months. Right away I knew what the answer was. The evening. I am not a morning person at all. I definitely feel like I could conquer the world in the evening. I am so much more concentrated and on my game and feeling like I could clean the whole house, get laundry done, run 6 miles, write out a 8 page paper, and maybe have time for T.V. 

Well tonight I was a busy little bee. I was doing laundry and working out and eating some dinner and hanging with a friend and cleaning out the old... wait, what? What does that mean?

Let me explain. It's October. The middle of October. Today was 80-some degrees out!! Arg. Tomorrow is going to be 60!!! YAY!! I love fall. My favorite season is fall. Winter...not so much, but fall I really love. So in the midst of doing laundry and getting excited for the cold front that is finally coming  in (I know, I'm from Michigan, and I'm saying 60 degrees is a cold front...I haven't been home for a whole winter since 05. My blood has thinned out.) I decided that I would finally pull out my fall/winter clothes while listening to my favorite Christmas CD, Boyz II Men. (I know, I know. I totally broke the rules. But it's my FAVORITE! And it just puts me in a good mood. I asked my roommate Ryan if she thought it was alright and she totally agreed.) While I was pulling out all those clothes, I was also getting rid of thing that I haven't worn in years. Have you ever done that? I'm sure you have. If you haven't...well...you really should. I was watching TLC's What Not To Wear (I am so addicted to that show!) and it just put me in the mood to get rid of all my ugly clothes that I haven't worn in so long. So I was going through boxes of clothes and as I was doing that I was thinking two things: One. WHAT on EARTH was I thinking wearing these ugly clothes???? I mean, did I REALLY think they looked good?? My wardrobe pretty much said TOMBOY! Going through those clothes just brought me back to two years ago when I was living with the Coles, trying to get on my feet, working in an elementary school as an assistant/personal tutor for a little boy with severe physical disabilities, and coaching cheerleading at Trinity Christian School. My closet said, "broke immature college student/tomboy who doesn't have a clue what to do with her life". I remembered my closet back then. If you would have asked me to put on a good work outfit, I would've come out with jeans and a tshirt I had gotten from Good Will. Seriously. Gosh, but it felt SO good to get rid of those things that I do not wear any more, and kind of refreshing to look at my closet and be happy with where I am now...growing up. 

Ok, so you may be thinking. Jenny, this seems like a fashion advice column. Don't fret, my friend. It's not. Though, I do think I need to take Stacy and Clinton's job on What Not To Wear...or at least the hairstylist's dude. The OTHER thing I was thinking while putting this stuff in the trash is, how can I compare this to my walk with the Lord? Immediately, the passage in Colossians came to mind. 

Here it is: 

Colossian 3:5-10,12-14

5-Put to death therefore what is earthly in you. sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 

6- On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

7- In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.

8- But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

9- Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices

10- and have put on the new self which is being renewed in the knowledge after the image of its creator

12- Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts of kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

13- bearing with one another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

14- And above all these put on love, which binds every thing together in perfect harmony. 

I know this is such a typical illustration for this verse. But I especially think it applies to us girls/women since we all love clothes and shopping. 

I couldn't help but think of my wardrobe when I was typing that verse out. It's like when I looked at all that old, dingy stuff, I was disgusted with myself for wearing them and wondered why on earth I would want to wear them or why I thought they looked good...or maybe, why didn't anyone TELL me I looked horrible? 

Hmm...do you see the illustration yet? 

SIN! Yes, exactly! When you look...OOH!! this is good...I just got another thought. Ok, let me get comfortable so I can write it because it's good. 

SO, when you become a Christian at the beginning the Cross may not look as big or you may not be able to understand it real clear yet, but as you grow in sanctification  and start spending more time in the Word and you see the Grace of God more clearly, the Cross becomes bigger and bigger. You start to see why exactly Christ had to die for you. (there's a chart that goes alone with this, but I don't know how to do it on the computer, and don't have time...it's 12:45 am) So when you start to grow in your walk with the Lord, you take a look back into your old life and see the disgusting, dingy sin that you were walking in and wonder...why on earth did you want to do that? Why did I think that sin looked good on me? Why didn't someone tell me that sin looked bad on me? That sin looks so bad, that you don't even want anyone else to wear it, so you put it in a bag to be thrown in the trash...just as I am doing. It's hard not to go back to the old stuff you where once wearing though, right? They were comfortable. They were cute. They made me feel good. But, but, but...it's all wrong! The colors have faded, the wear has holes in it, it's wrinkled, it's out of style, it doesn't FIT YOU! 

Sin can be comfortable. It's comfortable because our pride tells us it is. We don't want to admit that we look bad. I like how the passage tells us to put all that away...put it in the trash! 

And then Paul tells us what to wear next. He brings out a whole new wardrobe that looks BRIGHT, VIBRANT, FRESH, BEAUTIFUL!!! I don't know about you, but all I see in the garments he gave us is nothing but the best...the character of Christ. And guess what...it's one size fits all! He first tells us that we are holy and beloved! ME? Holy and Beloved?!?! Come on. And to top it off, I'm chosen. Mmmm...that feels nice...like a lovely new Cashmere sweater from J. Crew (totally thought of you when I wrote that Meredith!) :O) 

I really like the last verse in this passage...he saves the best for last...above all these things, put on LOVE which binds everything in perfect harmony. It's like a good necklace, or ring, or earrings, or headband...some kind of accessory that binds the whole outfit together. 

Now that's a great outfit!

♥