Devotion #5: Dress For Success

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” Romans 13:14 

Each morning, when I wake up, I am faced with a question. In fact, we are all faced with this same question, which is frankly very easy to answer. The question is, “What am I going to wear today?” When I ask myself this question each day, I go on to ask myself a few more questions, including: “What do I have planned for that day? How warm or cold is it outside? Which clothes do I have clean?” After asking myself these questions, I then make a choice about which clothes would be best for me to wear. 

When Paul, the author of the book of Romans, writes, “but put on the Lord Jesus Christ” in Romans 13:14, he is giving his readers instruction to consider what they will be spiritually wearing for the day. Each day, we must make this choice: will we “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” or make “provision for the flesh”? 

When Paul says, “put on the Lord Jesus Christ,” he is challenging us to make the choice to live our lives as Jesus would. Practically, this looks like starting each and every day in prayer, asking God to help us live our lives for Him. Galatians 5:16 shares, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” We “walk by the Spirit” by praying without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). This constant connection to our Creator through prayer is how we can “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

However, Paul not only presents us with the challenge to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” but also to “make no provision for the flesh.” The flesh which Paul mentions is also known as our sinful nature. While sin can also be known as the desires of the flesh, not all fleshly desires are sinful. There can be many fleshly desires that, when acted upon, can lead to sin or are sinful in and of themselves. We need the grace of Jesus, found through His death and resurrection, to be able to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” The grace of Jesus can be accepted by confessing with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believing that God raised Him from the dead. 

My prayer today is for each of us to take a moment to ask ourselves Paul’s question: Are we willing to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” each and every day?