Again, let's call attention to our text: "Let her be covered."

One more question: "Why?"

Well, I hope that some answers have already gotten through to you. To all that, I would add this: Wear the headcovering because you know God wants you to! I cannot supply you with a more valid reason for the performance of any deed than simply to know that God wants you to do it. Can you? Can you think of a more valid reason to motivate any action? For every pliable saint, what God has written right here should be enough to settle the matter.

It is here made apparent that God wants to preserve an awareness of His divinely established order. That is urgently needed in today's society. Furthermore, he wants YOU to have a part in that, not only the sisters, but also the brethren. He wants both Christian men and Christian women to give visible evidence of their pledge to abide by that order. For the man, that visible witness is given by the non-wearing of a religiously significant covering. For the woman that witness is given by the wearing of a religiously significant covering. The God-supplied long hair will not suffice for this because it is not a personally supplied witness. It doesn't necessarily reflect a personal endorsement of God's arrangement. It doesn't convey the clear signal that "I'm voluntarily submitting to man's leadership." The humanly supplied covering should be worn to convey that signal. To all who see it, it proclaims this message: "I will not attempt to dominate, I will not attempt to manipulate my head. I submit to God's plan."

Now, to all of this, the response of the critic might be: "So what? There is no salvation in it!" That is as much beside the point as to say that there's no salvation in baptism or in any other of the ordinances. We don't keep the ordinances to become saved, rather being saved we gladly keep those commandments. "He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me."

It's very obvious that some portions of this passage have not been touched on in this message. Perhaps they can be touched on some other occasion.

Before I close, I wish to add some remarks bearing on the more practical side of this practice. We as church leaders try to monitor changes in covering styles and covering sizes, but changes can be made so gradually that we may not always be abreast of what is happening. Little by little, you can make your covering smaller and smaller, and you may suppose that no one else notices it, but God knows it, and you know it, and very likely more people take notice of that than you realize. You may never know. If you take that course, you may never know how many other sisters are influenced to do likewise. Now you may take that course if you choose, but that will not build the kind of church life that I think you want. It will not build the kind of church life that you want for your children.

I'm glad for the healthy signs among us. It's a healthy sign when daughters appear with coverings as large as their mother's. That's something to rejoice over and thank God for. Really, anything less than that will lead in the wrong direction. If, in successive generations, the daughter's covering every time is just a little smaller than the mother's, it will only be a few generations until the covering is lost. I don't think you want that to happen here, so I plead with you to help to keep it from happening.

Shall we come before the Lord in prayer? For those that have read all four articles I trust they were enlightning and helpful to you. If you still think that I do not know what I am talking about visit www.successmagnet.org

Should you like to more about Christian living please write: Living Waters For thirsty Souls, 40 Wood Corner Road, Ephrata, PA, USA, 17522