LightGrams
October 24, 2019
Volume 23, Number 34
Zorica Rebernik is someone you’ve likely never met. If you do, she will make you see red. No, really, she will make you see red because that is the color of every outfit she has owned for the last 50 years or so. It’s the color of her hair, and she has even had tombstones made for herself and her husband from red granite imported from Italy.
Rebernik is a retired schoolteacher from Bosnia. She experienced “a sudden, strong urge to wear red” at the age of 18 or 19. Her fixation on red also applies to her dinnerware, her furniture, as well as her bed linens. The color, she says, gives her “the feeling of strength and power”.
The story, carried by Reuters, doesn’t specifically say so, but we suspect Rebernik will leave this life in red garments. “There must not be a single dot of any other color on my home decorations or clothes.” After her passing it will almost certainly be said, “she died in red”.
Each of us have our individual tastes. If you ask me, I’ll probably say that my favorite color is blue (if you know me at all, you know why). But what I’m really seeking in life is to leave this life in white garments.
James pointed to the importance of this color choice: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).
To live without the stains of sin is actually an impossible task. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23 tells us. Envision sitting down to eat a spaghetti supper wearing a white shirt or blouse. What are your chances of leaving the table without at least a few flecks of tomato sauce? You have a better chance at that (50%?) than of going through life without having sin-stains on your soul (0%!).
John received a revelation from the Lord in which he saw “a great multitude which no one could number … standing before the Lamb, clothed with white robes”. How did these people manage to make it through life and have no evidence of sin on their records? “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9,14).
I cannot live without sometimes transgressing the law of God, the Bible tells me. For each occasion of sin there is a spot that shows up on my account. But the Bible also assures me that sins can be washed away by the blood of Christ (see Acts 22:16).
My greatest aim, therefore, is to die in Christ. If that happens, I know my robes will be clean and white, and I will be blessed (Revelation 14:13).
Come to the light God offers! Study His word, the Bible. Worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss these ideas further.
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Copyright, 2019, Timothy D. Hall. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New King James Version (Copyright, 1990, Thomas Nelson, Inc.).
“LightGrams” is produced by the Central Church of Christ, 2722 Oakland Avenue, Johnson City, Tennessee, 37601, and is written by Tim Hall, minister. It is sent free of charge every Thursday to all who request it. To subscribe or to receive more information, write to “[email protected]” (our E-mail address), to the U.S. mail address above, or call (423) 282-1571.
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