This message may be a little too much for some. I apologise in advance if I’m stepping on some toes, but I’m only trying to stay true to what I’m reading in the Bible.

Sometimes as a Christian you have to talk tough, dust off the books and take a hard look at the way your life is going.  From time to time, therefore, it’s good to sit alone on a rock somewhere to reflect on the direction your life is taking and what the stories of your life are telling.

In a way Paul grabs you by the throat and asks: What is your story? What road do you want to take? What road are you walking by day? If your actions are still in line with what you did before you met Jesus, you are missing the point. Then you are damaging the name of God and maybe you should rather let go of this being a Christian, because you’re just messing about and wasting your time as well. If you can’t let go of your old deeds, then let go of trying to be a Christian!

Hard words, hey? But they are necessary, because in a way we’re weakening the unbelievable thing that Jesus did for us. Just another craze that popped up and died out again. Let it go! If you are acting like people who do not know God, let it go! Is your mind filled with unimportant things? Let it go! Are you too stubborn? Let it go! Do you no longer have a feeling for what is right and what is wrong? Let it go! How filthy is your life really in God’s eyes? Let it go!

Maybe this shoe is not for you, but if it seems as if it may fit, put it on.

Hard words, hey. We can’t go on like this, this road leads nowhere. No, that’s not true. It leads us on a road of suffering. A road of messing it up and pain and death. And that is why Paul suggests the following: 22Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it!

Okay, I know I’m being too hard in telling people to “let it go”, even though I sometimes feel like doing so. Jesus would never have said it. He would rather have pulled them closer and put his arms around their dirty clothes to give them a warm hug.

I’m sorry.

Therefore, I have to join Jesus as He called from the cross, in the words of Paul: 23And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, 24a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.

Maybe we should also start wearing those WWJD (What would Jesus do) armbands to remind us all the time, wherever we go, to take off our dirty clothes and to live Jesus’ cross. But, o, maybe that dirty sleeve will slowly start creeping down and covering it and …

Must I then let it go?

No, I can’t!

Scripture:

Ephesians 4:17-32

Reflection

What is the stone in your shoe?

How can you get rid of it?

Where are your new clothes?

Prayer

Father, You helped me to get rid of my old and dirty clothes. Please help me now to live a clean life so that my actions can be in line with my words. I long for my attitude and my actions to bear witness to a new, clean life. Amen