a purple state of mind

Images are powerful. Colors tickle the imagination. 
The rainbow was a most brilliant invention. Imagine just how dull this world would be without color. 
No dazzling sunsets. No twinkling Northern Lights.
No glitter, no sparkles...no fun! 

Thankfully, the Lord knew that colors would be a blissfully fantastic idea. He knew how much we would love and appreciate His art, through activities like finger painting as three-year-olds, snapping Polaroid photographs of the beautiful moments happening all around us, doodling in our Bibles, or picking up colorful sea shells along the shore.   

The Bible talks a lot about colors. God used the first rainbow in Genesis as a symbol of His faithfulness. In the book of Revelation, a beautiful picture is painted of all the colors, lights, and illumination happening around His royal throne. (Check out Revelation 4! It describes the Lord appearing as a jasper and sardius stone, like an emerald, with a rainbow, and lightening, thunderings, and a sea of glass like crystal coming out of His presence...just imagine how majestic and colorful that scene must be! When we behold our King Jesus for the first time, we will be blown away by His beauty.)

Heaven is full of colors that we have never seen before. Experiencing His love close up, being drawn into all the living colors of His very heartbeat is going to be an exhilarating, unforgettable, Holy experience. All of the Angels, and Christians who have gone before us, are totally obsessed! They never stop worshiping Him! They never stop singing, "Holy, Holy Holy!" All I know is that it's gonna be more beautiful than the perfect rainstorm, a thundering waterfall, a brilliant rainbow, fireworks, the ocean, or anything else in all creation!

Let's talk about the color purple. Proverbs 31:22 says, 
"She makes tapestry for herself, her clothing is fine linen and purple." 

In the ancient world, purple clothes were not easy to come by. Today, you can do a Google search for "purple shoes" and find enough pairs to wear purple every single day of your life! 

But for the Proverbs 31 woman, being a woman with any kind of color or sparkle in your closet wasn't an easy or convenient thing. Purple dye was really hard to come by. It was precious, costly, and took thousands of little shellfish to squeeze out enough dye for only a yard or two of purple cloth! To create a whole purple tapestry, and design clothes of that color for yourself, would be a huge (expensive!) project. 

But the Proverbs 31 woman was totally on top of it. We know from reading this passage, that she created her own clothes, and in the verses before, it expresses what a talented tailor she truly was! 

"She stretches out her hands to the distaff, and her hand holds the spindle. She extends her hands to the poor, yes she reaches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all of her household is clothed with scarlet."

Her family was dressed in warm, beautiful, regal garments, and she even gave these handmade clothing items as gifts to the poor!

In the Bible, purple was very rare, and only worn by royalty or the extremely wealthy. (Another woman that we see rocking purple on the runway was Lydia in Acts 16! She was a seller of purple.) Symbolically, this color always has to do with being royal and majestic. Only Kings and high officials who were wealthy and prosperous, could afford to splurge on this luxury.

King Solomon's royal carriage was purple. "He made it's pillars of silver, it's support of gold, it's seat of purple, it's interior paved with love." {Song of Solomon, 3:10}

King Solomon told his bride, "Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, and the hair of your head is like purple..."  {7:5}

By using the artistic expression of "purple hair", he was telling her how precious, and priceless she was in his sight. He saw her as purple; rare, special, irreplaceable, and a beloved gift only for kings to enjoy.

Jesus told us the very same thing when He said, "Indeed, the very hairs on your head are numbered. Don't be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows." {Luke 12:7}

Don't be afraid love, you are worth more than the color purple. You're more precious than rubies, emeralds, and the finest gold. You sparkle and shine brighter than the most treasured and coveted diamond. 

The Proverbs 31 woman had a purple state of mind. She knew how valuable she was, and she cherished and understood the value of others. She reached out to the poor, the broken, and the desolate. She took the purple garments that she had crafted by wisdom and understanding, and bestowed that beauty and royal identity, so lovingly and graciously onto those around her.  

The Proverbs 31 woman had a status of royalty...just like we do! As Daughters of the King, we have been dressed in royal robes of righteousness. What if we imagined, just for a moment, that they are purple robes? 

Just like Queen Esther, the Lord has chosen to us to stand up and put on our royal robes. (Esther 5:1) He wants us to put on our crowns, and fill our minds with the truth of who we are in Christ. We know that we are a crown of beauty in His hand, a royal diadem in the hand of our God. (Isaiah 62:3) 

Just like the royal bride in the Song of Songs, we were created to have purple hair, a purple state of mind, cloaking and covering our minds. As we continue to allow ourselves to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2), and put on the helmet of salvation (Eph. 6:17) we will guard our minds from the lies of the enemy. Lies that say we are anything less than daughters of the King must be dispelled! 

Even our King Jesus wore purple. 

"Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, 'Behold the Man!' So when the chief priests and officers saw Him they cried out saying, 'Crucify! Crucify!'" {John 19:5}

First He wore purple, endured the mocking, the spitting, and the beating. Then He bleed crimson for us. His flawless beauty was stained and marred by our sin. Lastly, He rose from the grave wearing pure white, shining with all the brilliance and glory of Heaven. His purity has washed us in red, made us white as snow, and dressed us in purple. 

As a beloved daughter of the King, just like Joseph you have been given a robe of many colors. The Lord surrounds you every day with His brilliant rainbow of faithfulness! Some days you are dressed in scarlet, a brilliant and blazing red, reminding you of the blood Jesus poured out on the cross, and how all your sins are forgiven. Some days you're blue, laughing and splashing in the joy of the river which flows from the throne of God. Some days you're dressed in green, all lit up with the life and vibrancy of His Spirit.

But today, you are purple. 

You are royal. You are precious. Priceless. Loved. Treasured and adored. 

It's not difficult to understand, or too lofty to grasp. Even though it's overwhelming, the reality that you are His can never be changed. Not even by a change of clothes. It is the simple, childlike faith of resting in His truth: it is a purple state of mind.