It Doesn’t Fit by Martin Wiles

It doesn’t fit. If I’ve heard it once I have a thousand times.

My wife says she’s built funny-at least from the waist down. Actually it’s not her build; it’s her legs. They’re vertically challenged, making it difficult for her to find pants the correct length. Most pants she models could host her legs twice.

As a good husband, I tell her she’s built just right. She likes my opinion, but it doesn’t cut down on her time in the dressing room or mine on the bench. So I sit and wait until she finds just the right pair of pants or until she gives up in disgust and we go home. 

I don’t have as much trouble finding properly fitting clothes, but occasionally my normal size doesn’t fit-usually because of the manufacturer or quality of cloth. And periodically I try on garments I know deep down inside won’t fit (when I’m dieting and hope I’ve decreased a size). Normally I’m disappointed. 

But properly fitting attire should be the least of my worries. More important is what I try to wear spiritually but shouldn’t. Paul says; The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. (Romans 13:12) 

A modern translation says it more graphically: Shed them like dirty clothes. I’ve done that too. Peeled off sweat soaked clothes after picking watermelons or after five days of bathless backpacking. 

As a follower of Christ, some things just don’t fit or wear properly because I’m a new creation in him. Paul lists a few: dishonesty, wild parties, drunkenness, sexual impurity, immoral living, fighting and jealousy. Every now and then I try parading around in a few of these garments and get disappointed. It’s only natural. They never fit like I imagine, and they shouldn’t. 

The cure for inappropriate clothing is simple: put on the right size and style instead of attempting to wear something appealing that isn’t either. Like honesty, decency, right thinking and Jesus’ qualities of living. 

Prayer: Father, may the clothes we wear accurately reflect we are Your children. 

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