Linen Underwear!

Linen Underwear

Jeremiah 13- This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy yourself a linen undergarment and put it on,[a] but do not put it in water.” 2 So I bought underwear as the Lord instructed me and put it on.

3 Then the word of the Lord came to me a second time: 4 “Take the underwear that you bought and are wearing,[b] and go at once to the Euphrates[c] and hide it in a rocky crevice.”5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me.

6 A long time later the Lord said to me, “Go at once to the Euphrates and get the underwear that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 So I went to the Euphrates and dug up the underwear and got it from the place where I had hidden it, but it was ruined—of no use at all.

You may be thinking what in the world will I write about Linen underwear. 

It took me awhile, but I did come up with a word I felt the Lord would have me share. 

As you can see , this is a word the Lord gave to Jeremiah when there was so much sin and destruction amongst the people. As far as what it actually meant for Jeremiah, that you can study on your own.

I am writing just what the Lord showed me about this topic.

As I was praying and asking God what He was showing me with linen underwear, that became rotten, I had a clear picture.

On the outside we can look clean, pristine, refined, perfect, and on and on. We clean ourselves and make ourselves look acceptable. But on the inside, have we dealt with the "dirtiness" in our lives?

None of us are exempt from needing that cleansing inside. We are like fine linen. We need tender care from the inside out.  A gentle cleansing, rinsing, and airing out. Only the Lord can do that.

Linen is made of some of the finest cloth you can find.  But it cannot take being exposed to the elements for a long period of time. It needs a gentle washing and rinsing, and then air dry. 

The linen underwear was left in water and under a rock for a long period of time. When Jeremiah retrieved it, it was rotten. I'd imagine stinky and dirty. So it was no longer any good.

Think about our bodies in that way.  If we constantly abuse our bodies on the inside and out, they will become frail. We won't look very appealing on the outside. As for the inside, only God can restore what we have abused.

When we come to the Lord and repent of our sins, (we all need to do that), then the Lord can cleanse us, refine us, make us like new. When we welcome Him into our lives, invite Him in, then He will make us like new. He will gently refine us and make us like that new linen. 

Think of yourself as that fine linen. It is not just a garment to wear, but it is the tender fibers that make up that garment. The tender fibers that make up each one of us on the inside. The Lord Jesus loves us so much that He makes us with His best fibers. We are His masterpieces. And He wants to take care of His prize possessions. He wants to cleanse us and care for us. But we have to allow Him in to do that. 

Call on Jesus, ask Him to come in and remove all of the cobwebs and stinkiness. Oh it feels so good to be so clean.

We are like fine linen!