One of the first things I do when I get home is take off my work clothes and put on my pajamas. I can only take wearing my dress up clothes so long before I want to feel the comfort of a plain t-shirt, loose pajama pants, and my fuzzy slippers. Sometimes it’s after dark, other times it’s in the middle of the afternoon. Usually it depends on whether I’m on or off duty for the rest of the day. If I have no other plans of going anywhere, I’m all pajamas!
I know this may sound strange, but when I change clothes, my personality shifts, too. When I’m dressed up for work, I’m all business. I assume a leadership role as a college instructor and all that it entails. I also supervise interns and have to critique them in their teaching efforts. I encourage and point out good practices that I see; but I also have to tell them hard truths about their teaching in order to move them forward. It’s like when I’m dressed up, I’m wearing my leadership garb.
In contrast, when I change clothes and put on my pajamas, I put on my “Me” clothes. I get to be wife, mom, friend, and home keeper. I am in my comfortable place. Not that I don’t like my job or what I do for a living, because I really love my job. But when I walk in the door of my house, I don’t have to be in charge and critique anyone. I don’t have to be on watch or on guard. I get to relax and just let the day move in whatever direction it sees fit. I get to let my hair down.
It made me think about our walk with Christ. Do we treat our walk with Him as a change of clothes that we can take on and off? Do we wake up and put Him on, so to speak, and then when we get home, take Him off? Or maybe it’s just the opposite? We wear our comfortable clothes all day long and put on our Jesus outfit when we are alone in our home? Or maybe we only get dressed up in our Jesus suit on Sundays and Wednesdays or when we are going to be around people who we want to impress?
Do you wear a Jesus suit that you take on and off? Do you find yourself getting tired of being “on guard” all the time? Do you get tired of wearing your Jesus suit? Do you find yourself wanting to take a break and change clothes because the pressure is too much? Would you rather fall back into comfortable habits instead of stretching yourself?
If you answered yes to any of these, take some time and examine your heart. Jesus isn’t a set of clothes we can take on and off like dress clothes and pajamas. Jesus is your skin (figuratively speaking). When you respond to Him, turn your life towards Him and away from your old way of life; when you ask him to be your Savior and forgive you of your sins, you are committing to wear Christ all the time. Everywhere you go, he is your identity. It is your joy! It is your privilege! It is a blessing that He gives us to be able to walk with Him everyday. If you find that your walk has become a burden, maybe you need to get back to the heart. Maybe you’re missing the whole point. Jesus IS your comfy clothes. He’s your pajamas that you never want to stop wearing!