Cling to Me

Over the past week I tried to post multiple times, but after the first few sentences I typed I proceeded to hold the back space button and delete everything I wrote. In fact, I’m wondering now, “will these sentences even survive the backspace button?” Here is what I have learned and what I think has held me back.

If I focus too much on works, and forget about my hearts attitude, it is all in vain.

In my previous blog post I spoke on gifts. I shared about spiritual gifts and the importance of knowing your gift, investing in your gift, practicing your gift, and letting the Lord lead you to bring him glory through your gift.

And I think that is all wonderful encouragement. But I forgot to mention one thing. Probably the most important piece. If you don’t come from a heart of humility and absolute dependence on him, you are running on a tank of pride that will leave you empty and abandoned on the side of the road. Even if your intentions are good.

As I dug into the word of God this week, I was stopped in my tracks by Jeremiah 13: 11 “For as the loin cloth clings to the waist of the man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for a me a people, a name of praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.”

I could not read one more word. I underlined the words “cling to me” and “but they would not listen” and prayed Father teach me. Help my heart and mind to grasp the meaning of this passage.

And so, if you will bear with me today I believe God will encourage you and teach you like he did me.

Please read Jeremiah 13:1-11

The Ruined Loincloth

13 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” 2 So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. 3 And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, 4 “Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.” 5 So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. 6 And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” 7 Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing.

8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “Thus says the Lord: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. 11 For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

Let’s start at the beginning. I am going to break this down by key words and the message will begin to leap off the pages. Just hang with me please. J

“linen” the word for linen occurs 104 times in 92 verses in the English Standard Version of the bible.  In other verses it is used to describe the type of material that priest often wore in the tabernacle as described in the verse below.

“And the priest shall put on his linen garment and put his linen undergarment on his body, and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar and put them beside the altar.” Leviticus 6:10

Linen throughout the bible is mentioned and regarded as very valuable and costly.

Again, In Mark 15:46, our Savior was wrapped in linen “And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.”

And one reference that is most exciting-- the very bride of Christ, that’s us, “it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.” Rev. 19:8 

And if you continue on to Rev. 19:4 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.

I want you to hang on to this golden nugget of information as it will become very significant in a few more verses.

Let’s look next at the word loincloth.

Defined as a waist-cloth, the innermost piece of clothing, some commentaries say belt or sash.

I wanted to define this word because it is key to understand this is an article of clothing that must be tied on to a person. A loin cloth does not hold itself up, but is held up by the being it is attached to or clings to.

Let’s makes some sense of all this now.

The linen loincloth represents the people of Israel, Judah and Jerusalem. They were very valuable and costly in Gods eyes. Just as a loincloth must rely on a being to “hold it up” so the nation of Israel deeply relied on God to hold it up.

But what happened? Time and time again the Israelite's turned their back on a God. They chased false idols and worshiped false gods. As a result, they were burying themselves and like the loincloth became spoiled; and good for nothing.

“For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.” Romans 8:7

This whole story and above verse paints a picture of our human condition. Without Christ, without a Savior to hold us up, we are spoiled and good for nothing.

To really go a step deeper, we need to identify the glaring sin from the actions of Israelite's. Let’s re-read the verse where God identifies their sin.

 “Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them”

Pride.

 Let me share with you a definition I found on pride. Thinking we are something independently of God or that we can somehow get to God by what we can do.

WE CAN NEVER DO ENOUGH. Look at where pride takes us---spoiled and good for nothing. 

We cannot rely on our own strengths. To do so robs the glory of what Jesus did for us on the cross. We need the being to hold us up. We don’t do any holding. It’s all Jesus!

Pride, the very sin that led them astray and resulted in their exile to Babylon.

A little interesting side note is that God tells Jeremiah to go to the Euphrates to bury the loin cloth. Commentaries suggest this was a three-month long journey and referencing the exile to Babylon.

But here is the beautiful thing. We have all experienced seasons of exile. We have made choices that put to death our closeness with God and while we were in “Babylon” God did not ruin us, just as he did not ruin the Israelite's, but what did he ruin through the exile?

Their pride.

When we make choices based on sinful pride and are sent to Babylon it is a gift of grace. God does not ruin us in the exile, but purifies us and rids us of our sins. God loves you. Because God loves you, he will do whatever it takes to knock down walls of pride and independence.

We have to be so careful of pride. YES, let’s use our gifts, but to bring glory to God!  I read that even when bringing glory to God with our gifts, we can be guilty of hoping just a smudge, just a little glory will rub off on us too...ouch! Does that step on your toes?

God prefers humility any day over your works. You can serve and use your gifts all day, but if you are hoping for a smidgen of glory for yourself you need to get on your knees and seek humility. It is not about us. We are absolutely useless without Christ.

We all want to have a little bit of control. We desperately cling to a little ownership. I’m guilty and I’m sure you are guilty too. But if we will just trust our awesome CREATOR, we will find life and peace and joy like no other.

Don’t you forget. If you let God hold you up. You are like fine linen! Costly and valuable. God will hold you up. Let go of your idea of control. Give up your pride, because we all know where that is leading.

 Humble your heart, and let God use you. I want to cry typing this.

Control is my biggest struggle. I want to be a part of the leading. But that’s not how God designed it. He is the leader. He is the planner. He is the one to make all things work. Our part is to humble ourselves, to submit, to surrender, to trust.

Just look at this beautiful declaration by God. 

“that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory,”

If they will cling to me and listen. 

He wants to be in the closest of fellowship with YOU.

I don’t know about you, but I want that!

But let’s not forget what God said next, they did not listen. We can’t forget that cleaving to God is a choice. He does not force that upon you. We choose to trust. We choose to let him be in control. We choose to humble ourselves and pray.

If you have asked Jesus into your heart to forgive you of your sins, you are covered by the blood of Christ and God the Father only sees pure linen. 

I can clean my house all day, but it will never be perfect. Same with my spiritual house. I can clean up my act all day, but I’ll always miss something. I NEED a Savior—Jesus Christ to cling to and hold me up. Works cannot do it. Only Jesus. 

Humility-a deep sense of one's moral littleness. 

Won't you surrender today to the one who holds you up and sees you as costly and valuable. 

I love you friends. Thank you for sticking with me to the end.