Dressed for Success

Have you seen The Princess and the Frog? Yes, I know it is an animated movie (sounds better than “cartoon”). I watched it anyway. And I liked it. So, if you are not familiar with the story, there’s a prince who travels to New Orleans in search of a rich girl to marry. The Shadow Man turns him into a frog and only a kiss from a princess will turn him back into a prince. So, the frog meets Tiana, a poor girl who dreams of opening her own fancy restaurant and serving gumbo made with her father’s fabulous recipe. Now, the frog meets Tiana during Mardi Gras. He mistakes her for a princess because she is wearing a tiara, a beautiful dress, and really looks the part. The frog convinces Tiana to kiss him by promising enough money to help her make her dream come true. She kisses him and . . . instead of the frog turning back into a prince, Tiana turns into a frog! The frog can’t quite understand what went wrong. And then, he finds out that Tiana is no princess. He got fooled by her clothes. Her clothes said one thing, but real life said another. The frog/prince added the tiara to the ball gown and concluded that she was a real princess because she was dressed like one. Big mistake.

Now, I need to share something that has been rolling around in my head for a week. In the Covenant Bible study, Kay Arthur said, “Watch how you behave because you have His robe on.” This statement came from our study of the covenant between Jonathan and David. Jonathan gave David his robe and armor. It was a way of Jonathan saying to David, “You are putting ‘me’ on when you wear this. We are the same. Your enemies are my enemies, and I will fight with you.” Our covenant with God is similar. As Christians, we are “wearing His robe.” So, we better be careful how we act!! Like it or not, when we are wearing His robe, our actions get judged based on what others expect of us. Will they expect something different from us than they do from those who don’t have His robe? Yes. And they should.

I think my grandmother lived in fear that I would do something to bring some sort of dishonor to the family. She constantly reminded me, “Remember who you are.” Pretty good advice, really. So . . . when you are wearing His robe, remember Whose you are. That robe you're wearing - it was purchased with the blood of Christ.