Adorning for Adoration

Adorning for Adoration “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” Isaiah 61 v 10 We can rejoice in all our little successes in this life and world but we rejoice much more in the Lord. Our soul does not derive satisfaction from those things that fade away but it rejoices in union with the Lord God. In this world, we are joyful only by comparison, that we have done better than our neighbour. But, our joy in the Lord is without comparison or measure. Our joy in this world is fleeting, futile and effete. But our joy in the Lord is everlasting and fruitful. Every man appears naked before the eyes of God. When we do good deeds or noble acts, we begin to wear rags or clothes that are tattered. But, the Lord alone can cover our spiritual nakedness in its entirety. He gives clothing for our spirit, mind and body. When we receive Christ into our hearts, we wear the garments of salvation and are fully clothed in the white linen of righteousness that His saints wear. We are no longer ashamed of ourselves. We no longer feel guilty. Sorrow and sighing will run away from us. In its place has come seven types of joy and gladness: 1. We rejoice because we are helped by the Lord. 2.We rejoice like a farmer at harvest and like a soldier who has won spoils of victory. 3. We rejoice at being forgiven like the prodigal son on being welcomed back to his father’s house despite his past failure. 4.We rejoice because our enemies cannot triumph over us 5. the joy of the Lord is our strength. 6.We rejoice as the curse or hamartia or perpetual shortcoming of sin is broken and we are declared blessed vide all the beatitudes that Christ spoke of in His sermon on the mount. 7. We rejoice as a bride at her wedding feast with the Eternal Bridegroom. It will be a good practice to count these blessings every day and practice at least one type of joy each day of the week. Joy and peace are like the spiritual biceps of our strength. When these are weakened, we will feel weak and be ineffective. We must not be satisfied with the white robe of linen that our faith provides us. We must now deck ourselves with ornaments from head to foot. The Bridegroom is Christ Jesus. He decks Himself with the crowns and jewels we bring Him by our thoughts, words and actions in this lifetime. We adorn ourselves as the Bride with ornaments of character and deeds of charity and nobility. We stitch ourselves an upper garment of fine gold, a crown of righteousness. We will constantly wear a “ garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness” or moodiness. We will daily apply the anointing oil of joy provided by the Holy Spirit instead of an attitude of bitterness and depression. We will wear the shoes provided by the Lord, meaning the willingness to go anywhere the Lord takes us or tells us to go. We will wear the stud or signet ring of authority. If we do not wear these ornaments and special pieces of clothing, we will be like a bride who forgot to prepare herself for the Bridegroom, who did not treasure her clothes and jewels. When we adorn ourselves with such as these, we adore the Lord. Prateep V Philip