Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!

Romans 13:14 (MSG)

 

Wake up! Get up! It’s another beautiful day!

Get up! Get dressed! Be on your way!

Feel the spirit of the wind. Breathe in deeply His morning scents.

Start, and end, your day fresh with Him.

 

Praise Him for the morning sun. Praise Him for the rain that drops.

Clothe yourself for the day ahead. Not just the physical but Spirit lead.

Make sure to cover yourself head to toe (wouldn’t want naked parts to show!)

There’s more to this day than what is seen, get dressed with prayer — this is key.

 

Now that you’re fully dressed, don’t you feel good?

Your day is better when you’ve understood.

Get up! Get dressed! Say, “Good morning, Lord!”

Your day will go so much better when you’ve put on His armor.

 

~Marcie Bridges
©29 April 2019
All Rights Reserved.

 

I’ve been thinking a lot about my day to day activities and how I move about my days. I’ve realized I don’t have a set schedule. Being a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM) for so many years and now self-employed, I don’t have the demands I would have if I had a job outside the home.

 

Normally, or in the real world (wink), I would set an alarm, get up and get myself ready for the day to go to a job. I would go to work, eat lunch, work some more, and finally come home to a family or maybe just my spouse and finish the day.

 

But being self-employed I don’t have those responsibilities. Most days I don’t have any reason to set an alarm and get going in the morning. I tend to let my day just evolve and happen as it will.

 

In Romans, an epistle (or letter) of Paul, we see this charge from The Message. “Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!”

 

The verse reads a bit differently in the NKJV (and other versions). “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

 

What in the world does it mean to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ”?

 

Scroll your eyes up to verse 12b, “let us put on the armor of light”. Do you see it? Armor!

 

The “armor of light” is multi-faceted. First, we must begin our day in prayer inviting the Holy Spirit to be a part of our day. Second, the armor of light is God’s armor.

 

I’ve been working through a bible study lately with some precious sisters in the Lord studying the armor of God. In Ephesians 6:10-19 we are told to put on the armor of God. Without it, we cannot protect ourselves from the schemes of the devil.

 

Just as getting up and dressed is important to go out and about, it is just as—actually, more—important to put on God’s armor each morning before anything else. It seals us from head to toe, keeping those fiery darts from piercing our mind, heart, and soul.

 

Also, putting on God’s armor means I have the responsibility to use that armor. When I start my day without God’s leading, I inevitably will lose control of my day. When there is no set routine or schedule, I make myself more of a target for Satan to lure me into complacency and laziness. I am more apt to not get things done unless I have allowed the Holy Spirit to guide my day.

 

Do you know the reason David didn’t use Saul’s armor? Yes, it was too heavy for him. He couldn’t move in it. Had he used Saul’s armor, he would have fought in His own strength. But by taking off the fleshly armor, and using God’s armor, he was able to defeat Goliath. The flesh says we can do it in our strength. The Spirit leads us to let God fight our battles for us.

 

One final thought. I have found instead of staying in my pajamas, it helps me feel more like doing what I need to do when I put on fresh clothing, wash my face and brush my hair in the mornings. Especially on the hard-to-get-out-of-bed, I’m in a funk type of day. I’m thinking putting on a fresh set of armor is the same way. It gives us a little extra lift making us feel a bit more brave and ready for any battle coming our way.

 

So, get up! Get dressed! Be blessed!

 

From My Heart to Yours,
Marcie

 

 

All images courtesy of Pixabay.com