Romans 13:14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

This is enormously practical advice, but sometimes we don’t realize it. Putting on Jesus is the same thing as putting on the armor of light, as it says in verse 12. Paul explains that in a little more detail in Ephesians 6, and this verse in turn helps us understand what Ephesians 6 is talking about. As a child I read a science fiction book that included some sort of energy field that the young hero could put on that gave him assorted special powers. From antiquity people have put on various things to protect them in special circumstances, and even today we speak of a “knight in shining armor.” Even uniforms, such as police or military, convey a special authority. The ultimate for all of that is Jesus Christ Himself. We have trouble grasping the imagery, but Jesus talked a lot about being in us and us in Him in the Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17), and at that time He told us to pray in His Name. We can’t effectively pray in Jesus’ Name if we aren’t lined up with who He is, and that means submitting fully to His Lordship. Every bit of the armor mentioned in Ephesians 6 is an expression of who Christ is to us and through us. Submitting to and abiding in Him means we accept who He is and allow Him to express Himself through us. The second half of the verse is actually practical advice in how to go about this. When we are using our minds to think about how to gratify our bodies, we aren’t abiding in Christ! Our focus betrays our priorities. As Jesus said clearly in Matthew 6, God knows our physical needs even better than we do. If we will focus on God and put Him first in every respect, not only are our needs met, we discover that we are indeed “wearing” Christ, expressing Him in our daily lives.

This of course applies to me as much as it does to any believer. My childhood fantasy has indeed been fulfilled, because putting on Christ is far better than any alien energy field! The part about not using your mind to gratify your flesh reminds me of advice I give to couples before I perform their weddings. The more I am focused on my happiness in marriage, the less happy I am. The more I focus on making my wife happy, the happier I am! The same principle applies, and even more so, in making God happy. Jesus pleased the Father perfectly, as He said more than once. The best way for us to please God, and really the only way, is for us to put on Christ and be like Him. When we do that, we discover joy and satisfaction far beyond anything that can be achieved any other way. I know this in my mind and even in my heart, but I still have room to grow in applying it, and I need to communicate it effectively to the believers.

Father, thank You for Your incredible grace. The very idea that such an imperfect, foolish, sinful person as I am can put on Christ, in all His purity and power, overloads human understanding. Help me walk in Your grace, not struggling to figure it all out but receiving it gratefully, not only to be pleasing to You myself but to lead many others to do the same, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!