The Creator’s Label

“You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete.” (Colossians 3: 9-10, The Message)

We are obsessed with labels. Some designers put them on the outside of their clothing or handbags so that the wearer can advertise the designer’s name.  When I was a teenager, a woman whose children I babysat gave me some expensive designer clothes that were a few years old.  When I was finished wearing them, I gave the clothes away, but kept the labels.  As a joke, I sewed them into clothes I made myself over the years.  Fast-forward 20 years to a formal Christmas dinner we attended for Bob’s law firm.  One of my husband’s partners offered to take my wrap, a floor-length black velvet hooded cape that I made.  He murmured his approval when he saw the (re-purposed) label sewn on the silky lining of the cape.  We are more impressed by a label from the House of So and So than by a “Handmade by Diane” label. 

Clothes designed and made by well-known designers are often made with beautiful fabrics and exquisite workmanship.  But others are just fancy labels on mass-produced average quality clothing.  The Scripture texts for next Sunday encourage us to go for the best label from the house of the Designer—God.^[1]

Paul tells us to throw out the old ways with our old clothes and get a new wardrobe from the House of God, the Creator.  His is the best label: “You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete.” (Colossians 3: 9-10, The Message).  

God is timeless. When we clothe ourselves in his label, we reflect the fruits of the Spirit, which are timeless as well: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).  Notice that God does the heavy lifting.  He did the heavy lifting when he created the world and everything in it.  His Son did the heavy lifting when he died on the cross for our sins.  And the Spirit does the heavy lifting to give us the fruits of his labor—his work in us. 

Someone said that he who dies with the most toys wins.  This assumes that material things will have some value to us beyond the grave or that there is no life beyond the grave.  But in the gospel text for this week, Jesus confirms the truth that he who dies with the most toys is still dead and has made a short-sighted decision to accumulate things to the exclusion of spending time with God: “The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop .  . . ‘I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll gather in all my grain and goods, . . . You’ve got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!’ Just then God showed up and said, ‘Fool!  Tonight, you will die. And your barnful of goods—who gets it?’ “That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God” (Excerpts Luke 12:13 -21, The Message, emphasis added).

Solomon, sometimes referred to as the wisest man who ever lived, said that those who chase after material wealth are chasing after the wind—however, “To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God” (Ecclesiastes 2:26).

Put on the Creator’s label.  Steep yourself in his Word.  Call him.  He answers calls 24/7 and he doesn’t screen his calls.  He doesn’t check your address or find out what kind of car you drive before answering your calls.  Your balance sheet is of no interest to him.  He doesn’t care if you buy your clothes at the Dior boutique in Paris, France or at a Walmart in Perris, California.  

You can wear the Creator’s label forever if you believe that Jesus Christ died to save you from your sins.  If you truly believe, you will want to be baptized and will listen to his words in the book he inspired many years ago—the Bible.  And you will talk to him regularly to praise and thank him, to seek forgiveness for your mistakes, and to ask him to help and guide you to do his will. 

 If you follow God’s direction, you will be stamped with his label—the Creator’s label. It’s the best label in the universe. When you wear his label, you will receive all that you need from the Creator himself. 

Prayer:  Creator God, you made all things bright and beautiful, kind and loving, tall and majestic, fragrant and lovely, wide and deep, good and wonderful, peaceful and joyful—we thank you and praise you for your wondrous creation and more. We thank and praise you for loving us, for comforting us, for healing us, for giving us people to love and who love us, for guiding us. We thank and praise you for taking all of our old rags and burning them when you died on the cross for us.   We thank and praise you for offering us new, beautifully designed and made clothes to wear in our new life with you.  We thank and praise you for who you are—our best friend, Father, Son, Spirit, Savior, Anchor, Advocate, Comforter, Prince of Peace, Healer, Redeemer, the Alpha and the Omega, Creator. Amen.

Diane Cieslikowski Reagan

^[1] The Scripture texts for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost are Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14, 2:18-26;
Psalm 100; Colossians 3:1-11; Luke 12:13-21