Best-selling author Chaim Potok began his novel The Chosen by describing a baseball game between two Jewish teams in New York City. Reuven Malter, the book's main character, notices that the opposing player's uniforms have a unique accessory - four long ropelike tassels that extend below each teammate's shirt. Reuven recognizes the tassels as a sign of strict obedience to God's Old Testament laws.
The history of these fringes - known as tzitzit - began with a message from God. Through Moses, God told His people to create tassels containing some strands of blue thread and attach them to the four corners of their top garments (Num. 15:38). God said, "You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commandments of the Lord, that you may obey them" (v. 39).
God's memory device for the ancient Israelites has a parallel for us today. We can look at Christ who consistently kept the whole law in our place and obeyed His heavenly Father (John 8:29). Having received His work on our behalf, "clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh" (Rom. 13:14). Keeping our eyes on God's Son helps us to honor our heavenly Father. If Christ is the center of your life, you'll always be focused on Him.
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