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God once conveyed an essential truth by using underwear. We read about it in Jeremiah Chapter 13. God told Jeremiah to go buy a linen loincloth. This was underwear worn under the outer garment. God told him first to wear it, then to take it off and carry it all the way to the Euphrates River. He was to bury it in a hole in the rocks. After several months, God told him to go dig it up. When he did, it was rotten and useless. Then God gave him this message. “This is what the LORD says: This rotten cloth shows how I will rot away the pride of Judah and Jerusalem. These wicked people refuse to listen to me. They stubbornly follow their own desires and worship other gods. Therefore they will become like this loincloth—good for nothing! They were to be my people, my pride, my glory—an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me.” God used this ruined and useless underwear to teach His ancient people and us an important lesson: Pride can rot our hearts and make us useless to God. It can make us greedy for pleasure, money, and power. It can cause us to feel we don’t need God. It leads us to ignore Him. Eventually, pride can destroy us. It’s why Jesus’ first beatitude is this one: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
