I was doing some bible study and came across this scripture from Matthew that convicted and challanged me.
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel."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."Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Matthew 23: 23-32
A couple of years ago I was really puzzled by the Pharisees in the bible, how did they miss Jesus. How did they miss the very thing they were looking for?
By the grace of God, I have come to realize that I am not much different than they are. As a Christian, it is so easy to act the part and not let Jesus truly change the heart. I reflect on my own life, and think about my secret sins; my prideful and selfish heart that seeks my way above anyone else’s, my unruly tongue. The list goes on and on. But it is interesting how easy it is to loose focus of those things and focus on the outward appearance of righteousness. Everyone in church can look beautiful and smile, but what happens when no other Christian is looking? We can have the outward appearance of Christ (like a crucifix around our necks like I do, or a bumper sticker, or our weekly church attendance) but then curse like a sailor, or be rude to a customer service representative like I did today, tell a small white lie basically act like we don't know Jesus once we are outside the four walls of church. I does not matter what I look like when I go to church, Jesus would not ask me that when I get to heaven, but I can be sure He would ask me about my heart and how I treated others. I want Jesus to change my heart. I want to have His heart. I want to be able to be like Him in everything I do. And more importantly recognize Him in the eyes of a crying mother, in the eyes of a hurting world; see Him because I am sure He is all around. I don't want to miss Jesus because I am so caught up in my world, my pain and my “problems”. I never again want to strain a gnat and then swallow a camel, clean up the outside of a cup and then leave the inside filthy and disgusting. More than anything, I pray Jesus cleans the inside of my heart, so I have His heart, and I am able to love as He loves. I want the real deal, and not just pretense. I am open Lord, please change my heart.
