Sanctified by Socks

Well for those of you, who don’t know my crazy idiosyncrasies, let me tell you at least one. I can be very organized . . . so much so that I know exactly when I will have to do my laundry because I know that I have exactly enough black socks to last about 2 weeks. Therefore, this last week to my surprise I knew that I had a sock thief in my house because I had to do my laundry in exactly 7 business days as opposed to the normal 2 weeks . . . Yeah I know I’m crazy! Anyway, I also knew that I was running low when I had to use a pair of black socks that I hadn’t used since my mom had bought them 3 months ago for me. They were of sentimental value because of the reason why she had bought them for me and the symbols that the socks had on them. The pair of socks had crosses all over them because my mom had bought them at a Christian books store. She had bought them for me because about 3 months ago my brother Barry had stolen my socks because he had failed to do his own laundry and my mom wanted to remind me of Christ’s forgiveness (what a great mother!) That pair of socks is now a constant reminder to me of how irritated . . . frustrated . . . perturbed . . . okay, ANGRY I was at Barry . . . so much so that my mom would go and buy a pair of “Christian” socks for me to remember Christ’s forgiveness.

So, in memory of the last time I lost it over a stupid few pairs of black socks being missing and the inconvenience it caused me because I had to do my laundry 5 days sooner, I politely told my brother Barry that I knew he had been stealing my socks again. He smiled and told me that he would get them back to me the next day. Well tonight, 4 days later, I still had not gotten my black socks returned. Yeah, did I say that I know I’m a depraved soul in desperate need of the continual grace of God? Yeah! Well, tonight, not having my returned socks, I confronted my brother in a much more gracious manner than I did the last time . . . but it was definitely from a selfish heart that cared more about me and my needs than for him. What a schmuck I can be! So, once again, our amazing mother came to the rescue and allowed the Holy Spirit to work his conviction on my sinful heart. A while ago, she had bought four new packs of black socks for such a time as this. Having been squabbling about SOCKS for a few minutes, my mom went to her room and pulled out the four packs of socks and asked which ones I wanted and gave the other two packs to Barry.

If you don’t know what it feels like to be put in your place, I don’t think that I can really even describe it to you. My mom didn’t say a word. She only smiled. It was a smile that said, “I knew this would happen again because you and Barry can be so selfish and so a few months ago I went out and bought these socks for a moment like this to remind you about looking out for the needs of others before your own and remembering the forgiveness, grace, and love of Christ.” WOW, she said a lot without saying a word.

Having had a few hours to think this whole situation over again, I am left just completely smiling about the unique ways that God sanctifies believers to the conformity to his Son Jesus Christ. God used socks to sanctify my sinful heart. PRAISE HIS NAME. However, now that Barry just finished the laundry, I think I’m going to go steal my socks back. Wow, I’m glad God is still sanctifying me (mischievous smile and chuckle).