I do not believe we are any longer prohibited from blended fibers for our clothes. I don’t believe this was a moral stance, or a scientific one. I’ve never heard anyone suggest it was either. I can’t say I heard much discussion on it at all.
God is pure. His people are to be pure. They are not to marry among the other nations. They are definitely not to blend their religious practices with those of other nations. The purity of their garments is a statement, an illustration, a point. Every aspect of their lives were to point to God, his statutes, his power, his nature, his love… everything about God.
So much of the culture I was raised in revolved around church, the Bible, and God. We hung cross stitch Bible versus on our walls. Crosses make up a very large portion of our jewelry and decoration. Bumper stickers, wall art, pot holders, t-shirts… there was very little that could not be made ‘christian.’ And I’m not complaining or criticizing that.
Some of my favorite necklaces are crosses. I hope to start selling the hand lettered versus I’ve been working on through this study.
I just feel a little like I did in high school in the height of the What Would Jesus Do movement. I got a necklace. I rearranged the letters so they said DWJW. Not only did it get more attention, start more conversations, but, as I always explained, the question didn’t matter if you didn’t live by the answer.
All the reminders in the world will be irrelevant if you just walk past them because they’ve become part of the scenery. And I’m pretty sure we’re just as guilty as the Israelites of going through the motions and forgetting what it’s all about.
This may only be tangentially related to today’s reading, but it’s where my reflection took me.