“Cleaning Yourself” was the title of another of my studies and writings. In that writing I was studying in Isaiah where we are to wash ourselves to remove the big chunks of dirt and making ourselves presentable to God. We are still sinners and have plenty of filth, but we can work to wash away the conscious sin.
This morning I am in Matthew 23 where Jesus is speaking at the temple about 3 days before His crucifixion. He is in public and not mincing words and at this moment is speaking of how the scribes and Pharisees are hypocrites in their work. They say one thing in public and then in private act another way entirely.
“25Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.” – Matthew 23:25-26 (ESV)
Jesus, speaking directly to them tells them to first work on their hearts and allow that to make its way to their actions for all to see. The scribes and Pharisees were famous for preaching the ways of the LORD (cleaning the outside for all to see) and then when they were out of sight of the people, they would not necessarily heed their own words (dirty heart that was not seen).
Isn’t this the way we are as well. We all talk aloud how we should be acting in the way that God would have us act and then when it comes time to actually act, it is as if we had not even hear ourselves speaking aloud. I know that I struggle with this myself. One of my biggest struggles is maintaining a calmness. I tend to allow my passion for order in things spill out and lose the calmness I speak of with others. I immediately turn to the words known by parents as they speak to their children when caught in the act of not heeding their own advice, “do as I say and not as I do”.
“1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘2The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.’” – Matthew 23:1-3 (ESV)
Jesus tells us to do as the scribes and Pharisees say and not as they do. I know, isn’t that the words from above. It is. Jesus is acknowledging the correctness in the words from the scribes and Pharisees. He is letting it known that the people that are doing what is preached are doing so in a righteous manner.
Jesus also point out that these same scribes and Pharisees are not righteous as their words and calls to action. They say one thing and then do another, not out of passion for a particular thing, but as they are just saying one thing for people to “see” and then doing something else when the feel like no one is watching. They lack the integrity of their own words.
This is where I was going with my writing this morning. It is up to us to clean our hearts on the inside and allow that cleanliness to show through our actions on the outside. We have to scrub ourselves of the dirt and grime on our hearts and then allow that cleanliness to drive us to do some scrubbing on the outside with our actions.
We are not able to wash away our sin, but we are able to scrub the vessel starting on the inside that the LORD will be seen by all on the outside as well.
What does cleanliness look like to you? Are you showing one thing on the outside and walking around doing otherwise on the outside? What if you were to start by cleaning yourself up on the inside and allowing that cleanliness to be seen in your actions on the outside?
Trevor's Thoughts 