Take It All Off!!

Take it all off!! Uh..excuse me? Lol. That's my attention-getting title to get you to open this entry. Lol. Worked right?

Ok let's get going. Jesus actually said something similar when he raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11. This is what I want to focus on.

John 11:44b. NIV

[44] The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. b.)Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.11.44.NIV

Jesus said, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go." He is saying the same thing to us, His Church, today. 

He wants us to "take off" whatever once bound us or still binds us in our lives, and be made free to walk in the new life we have in Christ.

As Christians, we are not who we once were. We are "in Christ" now.

Ephesians 1:13a.NIV

[13] And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation...

We are made new in Christ. So, he wants us to live like it.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

[17] Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 

When we were born again by the Holy Spirit, having believed in and received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we were made "new creations" in Christ.

So, just like Lazarus, we are made new so He wants us to "take off the grave clothes," and walk in newness of life. He does not want anything to bind us in our new life in Christ. So, we have to look at our lives and get rid of anything that prevents us from being totally free in Christ. 

The writer of Hebrews says so in chapter 12.

Hebrews 12:1 NIV

[1] Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,

"Get rid of everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles..." See? Our old selves are still tangled up in the grave clothes of the former life we died to when we were born again. 

So, what can stay and what needs to go? What do we need to "take off?" Anything that hinders your walk with Jesus. The Holy Spirit will show you in your spirit. He'll help you.

One thing we can do everyday is in Ephesians. This really spells it out for us:

Ephesians 4:22-24 NIV

[22] You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; [23] to be made new in the attitude of your minds; [24] and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Put off the former way of life, the life you lived before you were born again. Renew your mind everyday as to who you are now, which is a new creation in Christ, a child of God, and live like that. Put on the new self, who you are in Christ now, and peel off all those "grave clothes" of our former lives!! You do that and people won't recognize this new you!! Lol. 

So live in the freedom that Christ provides and 

TAKE IT ALL OFF!! LOL

Love you dear readers,

Jeffrey Post