Stop putting filth on your plate
“How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You clean the outside of your cup and plate, while the inside is full of what you have obtained by violence and selfishness. Blind Pharisee! Clean what is inside the cup first, and then the outside will be clean too! Matthew 23 : 25 - 26 (GNB) |
Jesus in our passage today isn't just giving some advice about how to manage your crockery, or tips on how to do the washing up. Essentially what we are being told is not to focus on the superficial, the outside of the container when there are more important things to get right. We should focus on the inside areas. The parts that no-one else can see but we come in contact with every day. These are the parts that really matter.
In the context of our lives the inside of the cup and plate is what we are like on the inside (the real you). We need to make sure that the way we want to present ourselves on the outside, is how we really feel on the inside. We should live lives that are genuine, as life shouldn't be an act. Being a Christian shouldn't be something you only switch on to go to Church, or when someone is looking. When we behave like this we are like the bowls that look shiny and clean but are dirty on the inside.
When we start from the inside, making sure that our thoughts and habits are clean and God focused, this will more naturally lead to a life that is clean inside and out. When we do this there will no longer be a need to try and 'put on a show' and pretend to be a good person or a clean plate. Instead you will be showing the real you, a vessel that is fit to carry the finest cuisine from the best chefs in town.
So don't fall into the trap of pretending to be someone you are not. Don't go hiding bits of you away at the bottom of the bowl that is your life. Tackle them head on, give them a scrub if you need to and you will soon become the shining vessel God made you to be.
This week's song is Make a move by Royal Tailor |
Header image by: Steph L via Flickr