Army Jacket

I grew up in Joppa Maryland near the Edgewood army arsenal where there were many servicemen working and guarding the munitions depot.  One cool Saturday in 1960 I was out walking in the woods behind our house.  I enjoyed the peacefulness of the forest.  A pinpoint of color caught my eye.  Near the trail I found a discarded army jacket.  The colored patch on the sleeve had caught my attention.  Some soldier must have been hiking, got warm, and left the jacket on the ground intending to pick it up when he returned.  He never did, and the jacket became mine.  I was in the sixth grade and the coat was a little big for me, but I liked it.  When I put it on, I stood a little taller - I felt like a soldier.  I wore that coat for three years before it became too tight for me to wear as a freshman in high school.  Hey, in the Bible we are commanded to “put on” Jesus Christ.  The dear Lord has redeemed us, but it is our responsibility to live the Christian life through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Paul said in Colossians 3:1,9,10 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. … seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.”  As we walk with God daily, we become less like the world and become more and more like Jesus.  We walk a little taller as we become like Jesus, because we have put on His likeness through the study of the Bible.  Hey, become more like Jesus today.  Read His Word and “put on” the likeness of Jesus Christ.