"Clean Up The Inside"

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also." Matthew 23:25,26 

Is the most important part of a cup the inside or the outside? Is it more important for the inside or the outside to be clean? Jesus compared a person's life to a cup. We have an inside part of us and an outside part. In these verses He was talking about the Pharisees and how they made sure the outside was clean but neglected the inside. 

 

Religion always works at cleaning the outside. Religious people try to look "outwardly" good to prove that they are something that they aren't. They clean the outside by doing good deeds. They clean it by doing religious works. They go to church. They sing in the choir. They give offerings. They volunteer for special tasks. They may look pretty "clean". They may look "good", but they are "dirty" where it counts the most-- on the inside. 

 

Jesus' focus is always on the "inside". It is what is on the inside of a person that matters most. It is about the condition of the heart-- whether it is clean or dirty. We can only clean up the outside, we can't clean up the inside. Being religious can only clean up the outside, but not the inside. Jesus is the only One who can clean the inside. He is the only One who can make our hearts clean and brand new. It takes coming to Him in repentance and establishing a relationship with Him in order for us to become clean. 

 

Let me ask you this morning, "Are you a clean or dirty cup?" Do you do have an outward appearance that looks clean but inside your heart you are still unclean? Are you trying to wash yourself and make yourself clean? Are you deceiving yourself into thinking that you are clean because you act better than those who profess to be clean inside? Are you deceiving yourself into believing that you are clean because you believe in Jesus, and you try to be good, and you aren't that bad? Maybe you aren't "that bad". Maybe you do believe in Jesus. Maybe you do do some religious deeds. But you are still dirty because even a little dirty is still dirty. You have to be washed totally clean, again and again, only Jesus can do that. Only He can wash you and make the inside and outside clean.

 

Have a great day. Are you trying to clean yourself up on the outside, but you are still dirty on the inside?

 

For further reading:

Titus 3:6

Ephesians 2:8,9

2 Corinthians 5:17