I think one of the biggest problems in the church is that we have become too focused on cleaning up the outside of a person and in turn have forgotten the inside. Like the Pharisees, the church that focuses on teaching people how to clean up their lives (usually in the south than means “don’t drink, smoke, chew, or go with women who do”) instead of preaching Jesus Christ, misses the mark and can cost people their eternal salvation. (Matt 23:15, 27-28, 33)
Jesus teaches that we should not focus on cleaning up the outside, but should preach the message that can lead a man to Christ so the inside may be cleaned then the outside will follow.
“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. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” Matt 23:25-26
Where is your heart this week? Does the outside of your cup reflect the inside, or is it a false front?
Let Jesus reign in you and he will take care of the cleaning. I had a friend tell me once that when he received Jesus Christ. Then Jesus changed his “want to.” After that changing his life was easy he didn’t “want to” do the things he used to do anymore. Let Jesus change your “want to” today.
3 comments:
Amen to that. Some people who've been going to church for many years still have trouble cleaning up their insides and keeping it clean when they walk out the church doors and are away from their church peers.
One thing I've noticed over the years is that some people use Sunday as a way to clean up their sins for the week and then they believe it gives them a free pass to repeat the process the next week. "It's ok because I am a sinner" and so forth. To me, that says they don't take the Lord seriously. They are just going through the motions thinking that will be their salvation. If the main reason you are going to church isn't worshipping the Lord and trying to become a better person then something is wrong.
Hey Brother David. It's February, and we're looking forward to more from your blog! Talk to us some more, please.
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