Braggin' Dragon And Days Gone By

Day 269 in my "Year In My Life Through Pictures" blog series

I came across the shirt pictured today. I had purchased it from ebay a year or so ago, but was too big to wear it then. It is a size Large Tall, so it should fit a little different than a regular large shirt, but I am probably still too large myself to wear it.

In case you don't recognize the emblem it is a dragon, from the Sears line of clothing from the 80s. These were released back then when Izod Lacoste and Ralph Lauren's Polo brands were making headway like gangbusters. These were Sear's attempt to make a little money in the "look at what brand I'm wearing" war. Only thing is, they were from Sears and like today the "preppy" look does not usually come from Sears. The one I have still happens to have all of the original tags on it and still in its original plastic bag. Maybe that means it's worth a little more, maybe it doesn't. I do know that these pop up on ebay every now and then and sell in the $30+ range in worn condition, so this may be worth in the $50-$75 range.

I guess the reason I wanted one of these shirts was to try and regain some of the days from yesteryear. After all, I'm not getting any younger. That's something a lot of people try to do and why so many toys and things from our youth go for a lot of money now. We didn;t think of keeping stuff back then, so those that did happen to stick something away for 20-30 years is sitting on a small fortune. Everyone wants something to remind them of their youth, to take them back to days gone by.

The shirt happens to come from the time period that I was learning a lot about the world, first hand. I wanted to fit in really bad, but couldn't afford the high dollar brands that all the "popular" kids were wearing, so we got either plain clothes or the cheaper priced alternatives like the Dragon brand. Also during this time I started learning a lot about sin and it was no imposter, it was the full fledged sinning and I was diving in head first.

I had not really lived a sheltered life, but a life that really didn't see a lot of sin. It was the 70s and 80s, so we weren't exposed to as much as kids these days, but I soon learned that I wanted as much sin as I could get. I also "knew" at the time that all I had to do was ask for forgiveness and I was ok. That's what I was taught in church, by professional men, who wore the real deal Polo shirts. They made a lot of money, so they had to know what they were talking about. Right?

I didn't have a reason to question anything back then. I was really liking my sin and I was really liking the fact that I could sin as much as I wanted to and still go to heaven. I wasn't interested in holiness and really didn't know what it was anyway. All I know is I was doing what I wanted to do and I was happy with me. This train of thought carried on until God truly converted me and saved me at the age of 38. 30 years of living for me, but believing I was "good" and heading to heaven. Maybe not as many crowns, but at least I wasn't going to hell.

I still wonder why God chose me to grant His grace on. Why He chose to love me and send Christ to die for me. It is a mystery and I'm sure one that will take the first 1,000 years in eternity to explain. What I do realize is that there are countless millions living in deception as I did. These poor souls are living a "good" life in the eyes of the world and maybe even attend church or are deacons or even pastors, but they do not know the God of scripture, the Creator of the Universe. They were lied to as kids and lied to throughout life. They live in deception and will one day say," Lord, Lord haven't I...".

So, what to do about this. All it seems can be done is to pray that God opens their eyes like He did mine. Pray that He uses me and my testimony to open the eyes of others that live in the same deceptive realm as I did for 30 years. These folks are on the way to Hell. Why can't the true children of God comprehend this and proclaim to these people their true state before God? That would be the most loving thing anyone could do for their friends, family, acquaintances or just someone on the street. We must not compromise the Word of God to make someone feel good about themselves. They must see their utter state of vileness in the sight of God. That is love and that is laying your life down for someone. Telling them without thought of your own self and faithfully proclaiming the truth of the Gospel and not the watered down "gospel" that is prevalent today.

Please be bold. Please proclaim the truth of the Word. Please do as God has commanded every believer and GO! Make disciples!