Holey underwear. We all have them and we probably all wear them. Growing up, I remember my mom destroyed anyone’s holey underwear if she saw them in a laundry pile. It’s like she had a personal vendetta with holey underwear and she squealed with glee as she commenced to rip them to shreds before tossing them in the garbage. I never really understood what made her so excited about destroying the once cherished garment.
I myself am quite fond of those compromised garments. I mean what’s not to like?? I’ve worn them so much that they are comfortable and non-restrictive. Yeah so what if they are hanging together by a few stitches, right? I don’t know, maybe you are one of those do-gooder types that throws out a pair of underwear at first sight of over-use but I am not. I don’t like to waste things so I wear those things until there is no life left in them. I’m sure they are probably screaming, “Please, please, throw me away!” But I’m like “No, come on-you’ve got one more day left in you! You can do this!”
So yes, I talk to my underwear. I know it’s disturbing but that’s how I roll. Anyway, I started thinking this morning about how ridiculous it is to keep them. I mean, clearly they need to be replaced with new ones. And it isn’t as if I don’t have the money to buy new ones. I do, I’m just lazy and don’t want to take the time to shop for them. Plus, what if I can’t find the same kind and they are uncomfortable and annoying as heck?? What will I do then? I like the familiar, even if it’s not exactly healthy anymore.
I started drawing the conclusion that perhaps I am doing this in my spiritual life as well. Hanging on to things that God wants to replace in my life because they have outlived their usefulness. Things like selfish dreams and ambitions that used to clothe my most personal parts of me. I wore that spiritual underwear out until it became thread-bare and couldn’t even protect me anymore. At that point, why was I still wearing them? They weren’t even doing their job because they were worn out.
We all do this in our lives, whether we realize it or not. Maybe it’s not a selfish dream, it could be a relationship that needs to go because it’s unhealthy for both parties. Or maybe it’s an unhealthy paradigm that doesn’t exactly line up with God’s kingdom perspective. Whatever it is, it probably needs to be tossed in the trash and replaced with something new. The question is WHAT is the new? Only God knows that but I do know this: He has something NEW in mind for us that is way better than that old, ratty pair of underwear we keep putting on every day. We need to get rid of it, but do it the right way.
One day my sister called me asking about the lawn mower my husband borrowed from them to mow our yard. Through machine gun laughing bursts she said, “Why is a pair of underwear wrapped around the inside of the lawn mower?!!!” “UH what??” I countered, totally confused. Somehow or another my hubby mowed over a pair of old underwear and it became a hostage to the inside guts of the mower. It lived out its final days twisted around belts and metal cylinders. It took quite a bit of effort to unravel the elastic waistband from the motor. WHO does that?? First of all who throws out underwear on the ground and not in a garbage can AND who runs over it with a lawn mower?? Yeah, welcome to my crazy life.
So there is a right way and a wrong way to get rid of your holey underwear. Don’t throw it out on the ground for someone else to deal with-throw it in the garbage can where it will end up in some trash pit or burn pile! No one needs to see your most personal junk.
Now that I have probably lost all of my readers, well especially the religious ones, I challenge you to let God give you a new pair of underwear. Don’t keep trying to patch up the ones you have and live in denial about it. Underwear is important! Probably the most important part of our wardrobe so why wouldn’t you want the best, right?
I am laughing uncontrollably, practically crying while writing this but it’s so true. I couldn’t help but see David in what some scholars consider “underwear” dancing before the Lord when the Ark of the Covenant had finally made its way back to the holy city after an initial failed attempt. The story is found in 2 Samuel 6:14. David is so incredibly excited that he practically undresses and dances violently before the Lord. Now, don’t get all religious on me, but think about this. In my own weird mind I imagined David cutting a rug and then I look closer….wait….is that…is that a pair of holey underwear he has on????? Of course that isn’t what happened in the story but do you see the point I’m attempting to make here?? You never know when you will need to disrobe and dance before the Lord so you don’t want to be wearing holey underwear right?
Let’s put this in real terms: We don’t want to wear holey underwear when God decides to shine the light on us and we get to dance before Him in all of His glory. We don’t want to be clothed in lies from our past, or unhealthy relationships that He told us to get rid of, or holding on to backward paradigms. We want to be clothed with something more holy. Something true and pure and has no blemishes. I would say that “something” is the truth of Christ operating in our lives. I suppose that could be why scripture says to “gird our loins” with truth. So let’s decide today to let truth cover us instead of holey parts of our past riddled with insecurity and lies. Let’s toss the holey underwear.
