Christian Living

Garment of Leaves

by Babangida Joseph
02/03/16
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Then the princes said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah; and let no one know where you are”. And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the LORD hid them (Emphasis added) Jeremiah 36: 19, 26.

Isn’t it amazing how God often comes to our rescue when we, in our finiteness and frailty, attempt to solve problems our own way? I am reminded of Adam and Eve. Just pull back the curtain of the Garden of Eden. Here comes in Adam with his hands full of freshly plucked leaves dumping them on a heap of already plucked leaves. Eve had already begun to sow the leaves together in order to make a garment to cover their nakedness.

But God’s way is always the best. Man’s best efforts at clothing himself requires that for the rest of his life everyday his preoccupation would be sowing garments of leaves to cover himself. However, God, as heartbroken as He was, still came down like He did every day with a better alternative – a garment of skin. When we allow God to have His way with regards to any issue that affects us, we come away with the realization that, in the words of a song, Jesus doeth all things well.

Jeremiah instructed Baruch to write down all the prophetic words God had given him and to declare same in the temple to the hearing of all. When the word eventually got to the princes, they received the word, and knowing the king’s disposition and antecedence, instructed Baruch to go into hiding. They were proved right. They did not misjudge the king. He gave orders for Baruch and Jeremiah’s arrest. “But the LORD hid them”. It is possible that the trio sent to arrest Baruch and Jeremiah could have succeeded in their mission. If Baruch and Jeremiah had trusted in their ability to stay hidden from the claws of the king, it would have been akin to trying to sow a garment of fig leaves. Their hearts would be beating hard at the prospect of being found out. But because it was God himself who hid his servants, the search party, with their arrest warrant, labored in vain without a trace and not the slightest clue as to where to look next in their search for Baruch and Jeremiah. King Solomon understood this when he wrote, “If God doesn’t build the house, the builders only build shacks. If God doesn’t guard the city, the night watchman might as well nap” (Psalm 127:1, MSG).

God, you will recall, hid Moses in the cleft of a rock lest he sees God’s face and die. And Moses stayed hidden until God moved past.

Friends, when God hides you, no evil, no calamity, no witches and wizards will see you. Thankfully, He is my hiding place against the vicissitudes of life. When evil roars like a raging storm, the Holy Spirit is always on standby to lift up a standard against evil. The God who spoke to raging storms and they become still, is the very one who will hide me from trouble.

We have clothed ourselves so long with the garment of leaves. We try to cover our fears, insecurities, inadequacies, weaknesses, and our shame and doubts with the garment of leaves. But as we yield to God, He hides our shame and doubts, fears and insecurities, inadequacies and weaknesses in the sea of forgetfulness where the accuser of the brethren and his best swimmers couldn’t reach! (Micah 7:19).

But He didn’t stop at that. He clothes us with His righteousness – white, unspotted, unblemished raiment (Ephesians 5:27; Zechariah 3:1-5) so that our futile attempts at changing our garments of leaves every day is taken away from us once and for all through His gracious act.

If you’ve not received Jesus as Lord and Savior, the time to do so is now. If you hear His voice speaking to you through this article or even before now harden not your heart. Stop clinging to fads, costumes and customs which keep changing with time and cling instead to the unchanging changer for a garment that will serve as a ticket to guarantee you entrance through the pearly gates of heaven (Matthew 22:11-13). From this day forward discard the garment of leaves and take a hold on the garment of righteousness He is holding out to you (Revelation 3:5). His arms are stretched out waiting for you to take off those leafy garments and be clothed in white. Don’t keep Him waiting another second. If you will, He will. God bless you!

Babangida Joseph Duniya

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