God chose Israel to be His special people. Why? The Book talks about His glory being made evident through them. Here in Colossians we see something about His choice again. That choice being us. Believers. Those who have chosen to be in a salvation relationship with Him.

I confess. I do not understand this concept, that God would choose me among all the billions of people around the world, but I believe that what He had written in the Bible is exactly what He wanted, exactly what He meant, and I don’t have to understand it for it to be true.

That aside, let’s realize that in His choice of people, both Israel and believers today, He expects holy people. Not because we are holy on our own, but because when we enter that relationship with Him through the blood shed by Jesus on the cross, we become holy. We trade our sinfulness for Jesus’ righteousness. (Can I get a hallelujah?) We are to be holy. Different. Set apart. Weird compared to the world around us. Our responses are to be different, our words different, our thoughts different, our behaviors different.

Paul laid out the five areas that would identify us as the holy people God expects us to be. These aren’t checkboxes, they are our hearts. This isn’t exterior decoration, these are interior motivations.

If you’ll notice, this is close to the same list Paul gave to the believers in Galatia – the fruit of the Spirit. Our continued holiness comes from the Spirit of God dwelling in us. This new clothing is evidence of that.

We have a choice every moment of every day: walk in the way God wants or walk in the way we want. His ways are higher and vastly different than ours.

We want painless pleasure. He wants holiness. Sometimes the two are the same, but often they are completely at odds with one another. We must make the choice. Then make it again. And again. And one more time. And start all over again tomorrow. Just like getting dressed every day.

Let’s start today. Look at your “clothing” right now. Does it include tenderhearted mercy? What about kindness? Not the kind that you think about, the kind you live. How about humility? Gentleness? Patience? Let’s be cognizant of the way we’re living out the holiness given by Christ. If we’re not “wearing” these clothes, it’s time to change them.

Coffee, Bible, Journal.