Isaiah 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

Imagine if you will a little girl who has adorned herself in her mother’s wedding dress and high heels. The dress covers the shoes as it bunches on the floor. She stands at the mirror dreaming of the day she will someday wear this dress for herself.

Or perhaps it is the image of a young fellow standing in daddy’s shoes. “Those are some big shoes to fill!” One day he will grow to fill those shoes, perhaps even bigger shoes. Every father’s desire for his son is to be outdone. We want our children to grow and succeed.

As I began thinking about this devotional the term hand-me-down came to mind. If you have never worn hand-me-downs, bless you. If you are like me and came from a position of necessity, hand-me-downs were not seen as blessings. They were always too big. “Don’t worry you will grow into them.” Those words never comforted me.

These robes of righteousness are not seen with that same resentment but they are in fact spiritual hand-me-downs from the Cross of Christ. We do not look at it that way but the fact exists that without that moment in time we would never know righteousness.

Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

This cross I bear is my hand-me-down. I will grow into it.