As I was reading these past few days I kept coming across the words “put away”.  Well, if we can and are to put away some things, then it stands to reason that the oppose must be true too; that we are to “put on” some things. So this blog will be a two-part topic as we examine together what the Bible says about “putting away/off and putting on.

Of course it would probably take at least a lengthy novel to explore this topic in a more exhaustive detail, and since this is a blog post we will do an overview.  This is also a good time to remind you that my purpose in my blogs is to encourage us and ignite in us a desire to search the Scriptures for ourselves and learn what God has to say in His Word.

As we grow in the knowledge of God’s Word we learn that anything – or anyone – we put first in our life other than God Almighty is considered a “strange god”.  As we study the Bible we see that the people actually did worshiped idols of other gods. Nowadays we might not think that we do that, but if we put watching TV, hobbies, sports events, even vacations and such first place, then we have some “strange gods” in our life!  The person or thing may not be strange in itself, but as children of God, we should look at anything taking the God’s place in our heart as strange and as idols.

The Scriptures are clear in what to do: we are to put them away. To “put” something means to bring it in a specific place.  The word “away” means from one’s possession or existence, out, or absent.  So to incorporate these definitions together would be to change the position of the idol or god from the rule in our lives to be in submission to our rule and dominion as we place God first place to reign in our heart and life.

Before we became a child of God we were children of the world and did things according to the world –  anger, hatred, lying, cheating, stealing, coveting, harsh words, negative attitudes, etc, – BUT now we are to put away the things of the world, and as a child of God do things according to His Word.  We are to walk in obedience to 1 Peter 2:1 and put away all wickedness, malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speaking.

We must realize – as I’m sure you do – that we can only put away doing things by the world’s manner of conduct by changing our heart.  The only way to change our heart is to change the source of the nature of our heart.  That’s where Salvation comes in.  At the time of receiving Christ as our Savior we receive a new nature – the nature of God – and at that time we begin to change from the inside out: our heart changes, our thinking changes, our words change and thereby our actions, motives, speech, conduct and lives change.

We are to put away from us the ways of the world, be cleansed by the Word of God, changing our old ways and habits of doing thing, and change our ways and habits to the new way of living for God, putting on His garments of holiness, to the praise and glory of His Precious Name.

Genesis 35:2  Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments.

We are to fear or reverence the Lord and serve him with love, honest, sincerity and truth with our whole heart, mind, and soul, and not serve those things which were a part of us before we became a child of God.

Joshua 24:14  Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve the Lord

We are to be drawn in our heart to the Lord so that we can then change our attitudes, words, and actions.

Joshua 24:23  Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel.

As we grow in the knowledge of our Lord, we are to no longer be childish but to know the Words of our Heavenly Father and live by them.

1 Corinthians 13:11  When I was a child, I spoke as a child; I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

When we know that we are to put God first in our lives, we learn that it is not just a one-time decision but daily decisions to obey the Word of God.  We must daily monitor what and who we put first in our lives.  If we fail in this step then we will be laying aside the commandments of God and will hold to the traditions of men that will lead us away from God  (Mark 7:8).

Father God, we come to you this week and ask for you to reveal to us any idols we hold in our heart that we need to put away.  Forgive us and cleanse us from the sin of not honoring you.  We make a decision today and will continue daily to make decisions to honor you in every area of our lives; to bring glory to you, O Lord our God.

(This week we’ve studied the putting away of things that are not of God and next time we will study how to put on the things of God).