The Garment

 

 

I walked through town

Looking for a garment to wear,

I searched up and down

I looked everywhere.

 

I had a vague idea

What it should look like,

Not something of worldly show

But reflecting the light.

 

I knew that the pattern

Was out of this world

So, I visited the upscale stores

Of which I’d heard.

 

Broad Street, for example,

Where those stores were,

Definitely not the other streets

Were preferred.

 

I searched up and down

And nothing seemed to fit,

After a considerable time searching

I thought to quit.

 

That garment was not seen

In any of those stores

Though I searched and searched

And searched even more.

 

But in my earnestness

I heard a calming voice,

“But you know my precious one

There’s another choice.

 

I covertly looked around

But I saw no one,

It was then it struck me of a place

I had not gone.

 

It was not a store

And surely not Broad Street

But a place from whence that one

I had heard speak.

 

But what did he mean

Regarding another choice

And who was the actual speaker

Behind the voice.

 

I came to understand

That it was Jesus Christ

And that not any or every garment

Would suffice.

 

 

But a garment of white

Which he himself supplied

And a garment that would be worn

All the while.

 

Clothed in righteousness

As we walk by faith,

The white signifying Christ’s purity

Compliments God’s grace.

 

No longer a vague idea

What it should look like,

But rather, that garment of white

Reflecting the Light.

 

The Light, Christ Jesus,

That lights up the world

With the lesser lights like you and me

That follow his word.

 

A diffusion of light

From the garment we wear

Adhering to the command of Christ

To show we care.

 

Can’t be found in a store

Or any high-end shop,

But at the ending of one’s limit

When forced to stop.

 

An encounter with Jesus,

A yielding of the will

To be clothed in his righteousness

And by him to be filled.

 

No longer need I look

For a garment to wear,

I found that wonderful garment

That fits me even here.

 

 

And when I am called

To leave this bivouac of life,

This garment will be my surety

When I stand before Christ.

 

Put on Christ I urge you

And you won’t regret,

Stop searching in all other stores;

Jesus’ is the only outlet.

 

Stewart Russell © July 20, 2025