Coming out of the Grave Clothes

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When Lazarus dies, he is wrapped up in linen clothes. It’s to cover, head to toe, the body of the dead. It was part of the embalming process. Spices and oils were used to keep the body from decaying and smelling too quickly. He steps out of the grave and Yeshua orders them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

Today as I was spending time with Yeshua, he says to me, “The world beat and buried you. You were killed by them and then I called you back to life. Now take off the grave clothes and be who you are meant to be. Be who I have called you to be.”

This struck me. Even Yeshua was wrapped in these grave clothes when they laid him in the tomb. But he left the cloth that was on his head and the linens still in the tomb. When his disciples saw him later, they didn’t recognize him because his true nature was shining through. He was physically being revealed as the person the Father had identified him as all along.

We are said to have died with him and risen from the grave. Yet, we often walk around still wearing our grave clothes like rags of shame, keeping secret the true identity we were given. We do not dress according to who we are.

It is time to take off the grave clothes. That doesn’t mean that the world is suddenly going to get us. It doesn’t mean that we are going to appear the way we want. It means that it’s time to stop acting like we are dead. It’s time to live as the person he has called us to be. It’s time to leave the grave clothes in the grave and walk out as HIS people with the identity that only He can give us.

Being honest, this is the hardest thing for me to be. I feel like I have no right to be who he says I am. I have no right to be dressed in fine clean robes and called loved. I have no right to hold my head high. The world seems hellbent on reminding me of who I was, and how I look, and how I just don’t measure up to their standard of beauty or intellect. In this world, I am no one of consequence and they are sure to remind me every day. It is so hard to drown out the dozens of voices in my memory that say I’m not good enough, even when there are people in my life now telling me that I am loved. It is so hard to outrun the lies that chase me down, telling me that I will never be good enough and an asterisk will always appear next my name in his kingdom.

Yes, technically I’m his, but I’m not really good enough. I wish I had a good answer for how to overcome these kinds of things, but I don’t. Fighting against the world is hard. Trusting him is hard. But I know that one day, he will remove the grave clothes from me, and I will be the person he says I am. I know that one day the world will not be able to deny that I am his. I know that one day, as he revealed the truth of who Yeshua always was, he will reveal me, even if it’s just between him and me.






Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 13, 2022 at 6:55 AM

    You can never remove your own graves clothes, only Christ could and will for us, We accept that we want Him to, submit to His process and emerge the way we ought to be, because of Him. He’s told me many times to trust the process. I struggle
    with letting Him do the work, I feel responsible, I made the mess, I need to fix it. Not Christ though, He wants to help clean up anyones mess that asks Him, cool dude.

    ReplyDelete
  2. mdjviperAugust 1, 2022 at 1:17 PM

    I agree, there seems to be two schools of thought. 1. fix it yourself. 2. Don't do anything, God will fix it. Both are flawed. We can't do it ourselves. I think that's pretty easy to understand. But also, God is not a babysitter. He intends to show us the way and teach us to walk it correctly. We are supposed to grow and learn. We cannot allow ourselves to become complacent with our sin. It is us working with the one who knows how to do it, to become whole.

    Thanks for your comment

    ReplyDelete

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