Nothing To Wear

O

k, how many times have you opened up your closet and just stared?  You have been invited to go out to eat, or to a party, or over to a friend's house and you have absolutely nothing to wear?  If the truth were known, your closet is probably hanging full of clothes that are both attractive and fashionable but for some reason you don't wear them because you don't like the way you look in them.  Moreover, you are worried what people's reaction to you will be in a particular outfit.

We spend way too much time worried about our outward appearance.  We spend both time and money to find just the right apparel so we will be accepted by our peers.  Someone once said that we buy things we don't need at prices we can't afford with money we don't have to impress people we don't like. I believe this comes pretty close to the truth for most of us.

John the Baptist's wardrobe would have driven any modern-day designer crazy. The scriptures tell us in Matthew 3:3-4 that "John's clothes were made of camel hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.  His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan."  Pardon me, but John doesn't sound like someone you'd invite to a nice restaurant, or someone you'd probably have in your home as a dinner guest.  Yet, people from all over the region went out to see John. 

What was it about him that caused people to travel such a great distance to see him?  It definitely couldn't be the clothes or his diet.  Could it have been John's message?  Could it have been the fact that John's words and actions spoke of a man who knew God and spent time with him? I believe it was for this very reason people went to see him.  John came preaching repentance, telling people that what they needed was to be forgiven.  He came to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah.  His message was real, timely, and touched the lives of those around him.

We are called to do the same thing.  People should be drawn to us because of the message we share.  What is it about your life today that attracts people?  Is it what you wear, or the person you are underneath the clothing?  Is it the words you use or the message you send?  Is it the claims you make or the actions you perform?  John had no great store of clothes in his wardrobe.  There were no Armani suits or Oscar de la Renta ties.  All he had to give and to present was the message of God, and that can be worn anywhere for any occasion.