Wrinkled

I was ironing my shirt on Sunday morning and at that moment I remembered something I have done a lot over the years. When I wore a suit coat and was in a rush or even just wanting to be lazy, I would only iron the front part of the dress shirt because that was all people would see, leaving the back part wrinkled. My reasoning was that no one would see the back portion because I would have my suit coat covering it and I would just leave the coat on to hide what I basically did not do (iron the whole shirt). There are times that the suit coat would get hot because of the element that I was in and I would want to take off that suit coat but because I was trying to hide an unfinished job (a shirt that was not fully ironed) I basically forced myself to suffer an inconvenience that I wouldn’t have had too. My shame/embarrassment in showing my inadequate decision/work kept me bound to hiding it thereby taking away my freedom.

I didn’t iron my shirt completely because I chose to wait until the last minute to prepare it. I at times knew what shirt I was going to wear but instead of preparing it the night before, I waited until I was literally running late to try to make provisions. My indecisiveness the day before led to my inadequate decision later. The Holy Spirit convicted me and showed me that we as Christians don’t plan ahead or prepare. Proverbs 24:27 says to “prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.” I didn’t prepare my work (getting things ready early/making provisions) and make it fit (suitable) for me to complete and be on time instead of rushing last minute. I was building a figurative house of slothfulness on the foundation of procrastination! How many of us being honest with ourselves are like that? Doing just enough to get by but not doing to the fullness. Not presenting ourselves the way that God calls for us to. We hide our spiritual wrinkles behind our gifts, our worship, our ministry; etc. We don’t prepare ourselves to be used by God daily, knowing that there is work for us to do daily. We wait until the last minute to try and present our walk and relationship with Christ but are bound by the shame/embarrassment of our inadequate decisions that we can’t move freely and exposed in Jesus! In the parable of the “watching servant,” In Luke 12:47, the servant was beaten with many stripes because he knew  his lord’s will but did not prepare himself or do according to the will of his lord. That is for us as Christians to see the need for preparation. We have to always be prepared! Luke 12:36 says “And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.” People that are prepared can open immediately, and those who aren’t will hesitate.

Wrinkles are shrivels. Who wants to be a shriveled Christian? The Hebrew word quamat (kaw-mat) means to pluck, i.e. destroy;--cut down, fill with wrinkles. Wrinkles destroy the presentation of your attire. It cuts down your presentation/representation of Jesus to the world. We have to stop giving wrinkled praise, wrinkled offerings, wrinkled attitudes, wrinkled love; etc. Instead of hiding it, iron it out!  Ephesians 5:27 “that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”