“Dear
friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if
something strange were happening to you.
Instead, be very glad – for these trials make you partners with Christ
in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory
when it is revealed to all the world. (1
Peter 4:12-13 NLT)
What kind of fabric would you choose
if you wanted the most comfortable, durable, long-lasting garment? Would it be worsted wool – tough and warm in
winter, but hot and heavy in the summer?
Or would it be the softer cotton that tends to wrinkle and requires
ironing. Or you might try other fabrics
such as Rayon and Dacron. Would it
surprise you to learn that the most sought after fabric for durability and comfort
throughout the Old and New Testament times was linen? According to Strong’s
Exhaustive Bible Concordance linen is
mentioned more than 85 times in the O.T. and almost 20 times in the N.T.
When God gave Moses the material
list for constructing the tent of meeting it included “blue, purple, scarlet
materials, fine linen, goat hair, ram’s skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia
wood, etc.” (Exodus 25:4-7)
When Joseph was promoted to Prime
Minister of Egypt, “Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and clothed
him in garments of fine linen and put the gold necklace around his neck.” (Genesis 41:42)
Linen fabrics
may be beautiful, but a brutal process is required to produce them. David Jeremiah in his August edition of
Turning Points explains this painful process as “rippling, retting, breaking, scutching,
heckling, spinning, weaving, and finishing.”
(P. 9-10) In order for the
fibers of the flax plant to achieve their fine
linen quality, they must endure a painful process of transformation.
The
same holds true in the Christian life.
The events and circumstances, as harsh and painful as they might be, are
necessary in our transformation process of conforming to the image of
Christ. (Romans 8:28-29)
Our
refining process is no different than what our Savior endured at the hands of
sinful men. Hebrews 5:8 says, “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned
obedience from the things he suffered.”
(NLT)
The
garment that the master weaver is making out of our lives is one that will last
for eternity.
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