I do believe that the winter past was the mildest one I have ever witnessed in my lifetime. Like us, most of you did not even have to take the heavy clothes and coats out of the closet or put heavy blankets on the bed. Our fuel bills were even down considerably. We saw a few flakes of snow one time but there was no accumulation. Hot temperatures have arrived early, and we are already looking for ways to relieve ourselves of the heat. The big problem is that the temperature is beginning to rise and the clothes are coming off! Not only is this happening at swimming spots, but on the streets and in all public places. It is almost a disgrace to walk down a street, go to a park, etc. You get the picture! You see the same exposure I see.
The prophet Jeremiah spoke of such a time as this in Jeremiah 8:12. “Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed and neither could they blush.” As people are exposing their bodies in public, they fail to realize how this may affect others in so many ways, and this goes for the male populace as well as the female. There have been times when I have actually had to turn my head away from some publicly exposed body. There are just some parts of our physical make-up that are private and not for public exposure. If these people would restrict such openness to nudist colonies and topless beaches, there would be less embarrassment for those of us who can still blush at immodesty.
The real shame of it is that parents are allowing youngsters to expose themselves in such a shabby manner. I wonder if they have ever considered the fact that their children (male and female) could be observed by an active sex predator or even a would-be predator. Even though their child may be mostly exposed so that a predator would be tempted and attack a child, in the public eye, it becomes totally the fault of the attacker. Parents, consider how you and your children dress for the public. Do not entice someone to harm another when there is no need for it. Keep private parts private!
The very first sin on the earth was when Eve ate of the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden and she gave it to Adam also. Up until that time, we are told “They were both naked and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25). After eating of that forbidden fruit, “They knew they were naked and sewed fig leaves together and made aprons for themselves” (Genesis 3:7). God created man in the “raw” state and there was no reason for shame but, with the eating of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, their “eyes were opened” (3:7), and things have never been the same since.
If you have doubt about what God’s intentions were about exposing one’s body, look at Leviticus 18. It was God’s way of saying that the physical body is a private thing and, when not properly regarded, there are consequences to pay. We read in Revelation 3:18, “buy white raiment that you may be clothed and that the shame of your nakedness does not appear.” God expects His creation – men and women – to clothe their bodies. Being half-clothed (or less) does not take care of the problem.
Exposing one’s half-naked body for public viewing can create “fleshly lusts which war against the soul” (1 Peter 2:11). Modern fashion does not leave much to the imagination, but in order to be fashionable, both women and men buy clothing to wear in public that ought to be reserved for the privacy of their homes. Christians, do not dress your children scantily, and do not fall prey to the desire to be like others. In fact, be different from the world as Paul instructed, “Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world” (Titus 2:12). Is fashion worth the price of your or someone else’s soul?
