"Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat; now the coat was without seams, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots" (Jn. 19:23-24)

     When our Lord was betrayed by Judas and given over to the crowd, they took Him to the high priest's house and then to Pontius Pilate.  Then Pilate's soldiers took Him into the Praetorium (a barrack for soldiers) and stripped Him, and put a scarlet robe on Him, a crown of thorns, on His head, and a reed in His hand and bowed the knee before Him, mocking Him; then they spit on Him and struck Him on the head with a reed. Later they took Him to be crucified and stripped Him of all His clothes, and cast lots for them (Matt. 27:27-31). This is the shameful and dishonoring experience that the Lord had to pass through, and the great price that He had to pay in order to save us.

     It is a heart-breaking experience to be stripped of loved ones, of friends, of health, of all assets; Job suffered this.  It is a heart-breaking experience to be taken away from your home and all your loved ones and thrown among a people that hate you and mistreat you; Joseph experienced this.  It is a heart-breaking experience to be falsely accused of something and have to live with the shame and dishonor, and then be unjustly tortured and killed for it; many Christian men, women, and children know something about this.  

     But there is but One, the only One - our Master Gardener, that really knows what it is to be stripped of all - of everything possible - and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

     Dear Christian, you who are in such a state right now; God has stripped you of some things, yet you still have your life.  Please hear His voice - "What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter" (Jn. 13:7). 

     The Lord is building His house, His temple.  He has chosen to build it with His great strong cedars of Lebanon (Psa. 104:16).  They have to be cut down, stripped, cut into boards, shipped out of their original home to a foreign land - to Jerusalem.  But look, they are placed in the temple of the living God, even in the most holy place where God dwells.  But look again; these boards are all covered now with gold.  Oh, how glorious they all are (I Kgs. 5:1-9, 6:16-22).

     Oh Christian, you have been brought out of your natural state; God has made you His.  You are His garden.  Even your fragrance is very sweet and pleasing to Him now because He has covered you with His gold, His robe of righteousness (Psa. 45:9,13, Rev. 7:14). Surely the cutting, the stripping, the losing, the moving, will be worth it all!!