Casting lots for the beautiful undergarment of Jesus. Made in one piece, woven together top to bottom, seamless. Can you imagine how precious this piece of clothing was? This piece of cloth, so woven that no seams divided the front from the back, the top from the bottom. One continual piece of cloth. And even the soldiers, intent only on satisfying their own greed, knew how special this was. I do not think it was by chance that the one piece of clothing Jesus had that was seamless, without beginning, without end, was the clothing that was the closest to his body.
The Lord had given this to me some
days ago, probably two weeks now, as I read a book where the story was told of
our Savior on the cross, suffering for me….for you, and the soldiers at the
foot of the cross casting lots for His clothing. Each time I walked into the room where that
book lay, the Holy Spirit would bring these words back to mind. At the time, I thought His words would be
about the way we seem to cast lots with our lives, taking chance after chance,
not truly committing to our Lord, not giving our will over to His will, knowing
that He knows what is best for us, but to continue to bet on our lives……
But as I sit here writing I can see
what the Lord intends to show me. This
piece of clothing, the one so thought so priceless by the soldiers that they
did want to tear it, the clothing closest to His body……to His heart…..is us,
dear friends, the Bride. This, the
Spirit is showing me, is how we, the Bride of Christ is, is to become, is to be
received by our Lord. As a cloth, as a
garment worn closest to your body, we want that garment to be of the softest
nature….not to scratch or irritate, but gentle to the feel, soft and warm. This garment should be pliable so that as it’s
one continuous piece, will fit without pulling away uncomfortably, but with
movement it flows easily with us. This
garment in one piece means it should not become unraveled as the threads might
give way with heavy duty work or being tugged at constantly to go a different
way. This garment…..as the one that lay
next to the Savior’s body…..His Bride should reflect herself in like
manner. We should be of the softest
nature, having a gentle, warm feeling for the members of the body, not allowing
ourselves to scratch or irritate others but to be as one with each other. We should be flexible so that when the Lord
moves us one way or the other, we can flow along with each other as needed, His
way, not our own. And we, the Bride, should
be strong, knitted together as one body, not letting the enemy’s piercing words
or pulling separate us from one another.
One continuous piece of cloth….we should be one continuous body, made
into one that will draw our strength, our peace and our joy from the heart of
our Lord, to be so close to His heart, as one body, that we will be as the
priceless undergarment worn by our Jesus.
I realize this may seem strange,
this reference of the Bride to that undergarment, deemed so priceless as to its
unique oneness, but that is exactly what the Bride of Christ should be. Unique to its oneness, that others may see,
and others may feel, that this Bride, this extraordinary beloved Bride of
Christ is a gift, not only to us for being chosen, but the gift to our Lord for
what He has given us. Can we not be One….can
we not become united in our thoughts, in our work for the Lord as He calls us….each
with our own part, knitted together so closely that it is impossible to become
unraveled…..and in our worship…..as one choir, as one voice, in loving worship
and honor of our One Beloved Lord. To be
the closest to Your heart, dear Lord, as One body, seamless bound…..committed forever to You.
Pat'sPennings
02-20-13
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