“Welcome to the vest system. Hard to hide it. Harder still to discard it. But we work at doing so. Emphasis on the word work.”- Max Lucado
“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removes our transgressions from us.”- Psalm 103:12
In Chapter 5 of More to Your Story, Max Lucado informs us that the state of Tennessee gives drunk drivers a new wardrobe. On three different days for eight hours at a time, offenders must wear a blaze orange vest. Four-inch-tall letters stenciled on the back boldly spell out: “I AM A DRUNK DRIVER.”
While Max believes such punishment appropriate given the threat drunk drivers impose upon the highways, he questions why we do the same to ourselves:
” . . . we dress ourselves in our mistakes, don the robe of poor choices. Don’t we? We step into our closets and sort through our regrets and rebellion and, for some odd reason, vest up. . . . Sometimes we cover the vest with a blouse or blazer of good behavior.”
Welcome to the vest system. However, the system contains inherent flaws. As a result, no amount of work or sustained effort removes the vest. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we must daily affirm that God’s story redeems our story.
In addition, Max states that “when you make God’s story yours, he covers you in Christ. You wear him like a vest. Old labels no longer apply- only labels that would be appropriately worn by Jesus Christ. ”
Today’s question: During your desert, transition time, how have you been intentional about shedding the vest system? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Year-round resident”
