Clothes - Pt 7

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:1-8 ESV). I’m sure that there is a clandestine education that takes place for girls when they are young so that they may educate their husbands sometime later. I’ve learned more things about seemingly meaningless objects over the years than I can count. This education must take place pretty early in life because I have noticed that my oldest granddaughter, Faith, has also begun to instruct me in some of these finer items. I have also found a perplexing prevailing thought that is common in all the women I know. They can’t seem to understand how I have lived this long without this vital knowledge. Just one of those vital pieces of information is thread count for bed sheets. Please don’t write me and tell me how unbelievable it is that I didn’t know about this. I have been told numerous times already. I really like sheets that are both soft and crisp. Flannel is soft, but it is not crisp. Some linen is crisp, but it is not soft. The actual material the sheets are made from also has a great deal to do with the way they feel. Now, I would assume you could go to the sheet store and simply look on the package and it would tell you if they were soft or not and to what degree of softness they were. I mean when I go to the cleaners I simply tell them heavy starch on the jeans and they know what I’m talking about. They will come back clean and starched so they can stand up by themselves as opposed to light, which means they don’t even looked like they’ve been cleaned; or, medium, which means they are in between. So, concerning sheets, I have been informed that the higher the thread count, the more they will feel crisp; and, the material determines the softness. Get bamboo or linen with a thread count higher than 600 and you’re in for a nice night’s sleep. John the Baptist wasn’t willing to spend time or money chasing comfortable clothes. He wore camel’s hair (a tough, scratchy option). He didn’t spend much on food either. He ate grasshoppers and wild honey. John the Baptist lived a simple life, a life suited to the wilderness. Simplicity means we center our attention on what is truly important and let go of things that are not essential. Letting go actually frees us up to serve God more fully. We live in a culture that doesn’t value simplicity. It says, “You need more, more, MORE!” More soft clothes, more gadgets, more experiences, more whatever-it-is-you-want. John decided the only thing he needed more of was God’s Spirit. Simplicity helped him be close to God. It released him to serve God effectively. Watch your preferences today. Keep it simple.