Clothed Before Daybreak

Word Unpacked: Devotionals in Romans

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"The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh." (Romans 13:12-14, NIV)

It's the hour right before sunrise — the darkest part of the night, when darkness hasn't fully left and light hasn't fully arrived. Paul asks a simple question in a moment like that: what are we wearing? And the first word he reaches for isn't "clothes." It's "armor." Rome was a city full of soldiers, so everyone on the street would have understood that picture instantly. Armor isn't for resting. It's for battle.

Night has its own outfit, and Rome knew it well — wild parties that lasted until dawn, wine flowing at every festival, a kind of sin that started in hiding and eventually stopped hiding at all. Historians have said Rome didn't fall to enemies outside its walls. It rotted from within. The style has changed since then, but the fabric hasn't. These same clothes are still hanging in our closet today.

So how do we take them off? Try harder? That's not what Paul says. Look at what comes right after "put aside." Not "try harder." "Put on." And that raises an odd question — the believers Paul is writing to were already believers. So why does he still tell them to take something off?

One time, this exact verse fell into someone's dark heart like a flash of light. He was a man who had spent years unable to control himself — habits he knew were wrong, excuses he kept making anyway. He was tired of himself. Then, one day, he opened a Bible, and his eyes landed on these two verses.

He didn't need to read any further.

That's the turn. But...