”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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