It’s Time to Wear Your New Wardrobe
Because you are no longer a slave…
There’s an awesome scene in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman where Myra, the town prostitute, tears up her contract with the saloon keeper and walks out. He threatens her but she’s grown bold enough to stand her ground and he backs down.
Horace, the town telegraph operator is in love with Myra and had promised to marry her as soon as she could get away from her indentured service as a prostitute. Hank, her former boss, follows her out of the saloon and throws all her clothing at her in the street in an attempt to humiliate her.
Myra starts gathering her clothes into her arms because they are her only worldly possessions. Horace stops her, lifts her up from the ground, kisses her on the forehead, and says, “You don’t need those…I’m going to give you a whole new life.”
It’s a perfect picture of how Christ redeems us
Even when we break free from some of our chains we tend to cling to things from our past. We let Jesus save us but we feel unworthy to wear the royal wardrobe he offers.
We scramble in the dirt, gathering up remnants of our past life thinking we need to salvage something from it. Christ says to cast off everything from our former life and allow him to make all things new.
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
my soul shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,”
(Isaiah 61:9 ESV)
Christ makes all things new
Who are we in Christ? A child of God. For years I looked at that truth as if I was a foster kid and God was a benevolent foster parent who felt sorry for me. I sometimes think I’ve inherited the orphan spirit from my father — never feeling like I truly belong anywhere.
One day, as I sang the popular worship song, No Longer Slaves, God revealed to me what it means to be a child of God.
From my mother’s womb, You have chosen me
Love has called my name, I’ve been born again, into a family
Your blood flows through my veins
At that moment, I understood why the children in Narnia became kings and queens after the Great Battle and after Aslan laid down his life
They became who they were truly supposed to be when they were set free from this world — part of God’s family and heirs with Jesus. In other words, children of the Great King. That was when they found true freedom in Christ. That’s when they were given a new life, new names, and a new wardrobe.
“So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you…” (Colossians 3:12, MSG)
We have a new wardrobe but we don’t always choose to wear it
Like another well-known prostitute, Gomer, we often leave our new life hanging in the closet and return to the brothel. We feel unworthy to step into the royal robes Christ holds out for us. We forfeit our inheritance for the counterfeit life we once knew.
It’s humbling to have nothing to call our own like Myra or Gomer and to be at the mercy of a benevolent lover, but that’s the reality of our situation. Without Christ, we’re lost, scraping the dirt to cover our shame and inadequacies.
Covered in His righteousness and clothed in the new life He freely gives us, we finally belong.
I’m Mary and when I’m not watching reruns on Netflix or Amazon Video, you can find me writing here on Medium or on my website. If you’re an Instagram lover, I am there too.
This story is published in Koinonia — stories by Christians to encourage, entertain, and empower you in your faith, food, fitness, family and fun.
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