Altered Roast

A friend of mine has a thirteen-year-old boy and the two of them went Christmas shopping together. Mom's plan to buy gifts for her four chilldren is to go out and get them things and surprise them. Dad, on the other hand, likes to take the kids with him and let them pick something out, which he buys right there for them. It's logical, but it takes a little of the fun out of it.

So, Dad and son are out shopping and he asks the boy what he wants. Of the many things a 13-year-old could ask for, especially in the clothing realms of his generation, he requested a new suit he could wear to church. The Dad, proud of his son's selection, helped him pick out a nice suit.

They went to a local tailor to have the pants altered and they went in where Dad made the request and paid for the alterations. The clerk said the pants would be ready in an hour. The two of them decided to go get a pizza while they waited and to have a man-to-man talk without the sisters and mom around.

After lunch they returned to the tailor and Dad sent the boy in to pick up his pants. At the door, the son turned and asked, "Dad, did you already pay for it?"

It was at this moment that Dad had what he called a "God-sighting." As he responded, "Yes" to his son's query, he thought of the price already paid for all of us by Christ. He paid for our "new suit," or our "new life" in Him with His Blood. But not only did He give us a new life, He paid for the alterations too.

So many of us take on this new life with plenty of tailoring to be done. Commonly our pants are too long and the jacket needs to be taken in. The good news is that it's all paid for. All we need do is accept it and pick it up. It's a simple trip of faith to the tailor. We have to allow for the fact that we aren't going to fit that new suit right away. We're being changed, constantly to be more like Him, to fit better into our new life in Christ. Some of us need a lot of changes. I know I do. Sometimes, I still catch myself walking around on my pant legs. If you see me like that, just remember...the alterations have been paid for...He's still working on me.

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