Friday, July 19, 2019

July 19



”Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence”. (Matthew 23:25 NIV)

My mother was a competent and wise housewife. She kept our home in remarkable order, and most of what I know about food preparation, baking and cleaning I learned from her. Even so, there was never any harsh discipline in our home. It was truly a home. All matter of items were left out; people were more important than things. However, my mother had one key principle; it should be clean underneath. She often said: ”As long as it is clean underneath – it’s no matter if it’s a bit untidy on the surface”.
I think our Christian life should function in a similar manner. We have to see to it that ”it’s clean underneath”, that our hearts are clean – that we regularly wash away those things we don’t want in our inner being – then it doesn’t matter so much if, on occasion, the surface is a bit cluttered. Catastrophe ensues when we polish the surface and present ourselves as perfect Christians, but our inner being is filled with anxiety, envy and other hurts.

Prayer
Jesus, thank You that I can pray and ask You for cleansing in my inner being – that I can acknowledge both my conscious and unconscious sins before You and receive Your forgiveness and cleansing today. Thank You that I have Your promise that if I confess my sins You are more than willing to forgive.

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