Always having clothes

Have you ever thought about being naked? I do not mean being naked by choice but being naked because we have no clothes?

I was deep in the jungle in the Republic of the Philippines during my military days and we came across tribes of people who were totally naked. The old farm boy here was set back a few notches but I hadn’t ever known of anyone who was totally without clothes.

Isaiah talked about providing for the naked in Isaiah 58:6-7. "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?”

I did not grow up rich but I never lacked for warmth, water, food or clothes and never thought about being without clothes. What I took for granted as a boy, is the biggest dream to many of the children of the world today.

If I was naked in the middle of the prairie in the cold of February, my life would continue for only a few hours at best, yet everyday I take clothes for granted.

In Acts 17 it says in part, “He gives us life and breathe and everything else” –clothes included. I need to get on my knees and thank God for always having clothes.

Thank you, Lord. May I never take your providing, sovereign and gracious hand for granted. Thank you, Lord for the reminder.