“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.” Matthew 23:25
Jesus is in the process of bringing many accusations against the Pharisees and teachers of the law. These are the people who are leading the temple worship.
In this verse He tells them that they clean the outside of the cup, but leave the inside dirty.
Cleaning the outside of a dish is good. It will make the dish sparkle when it is setting on the shelf in the cupboard. Would you use that same cup if you pulled it off the shelf and looked in it and saw coffee and coffee grinds in the bottom?
No one would want it. You would also be upset with whoever said it was clean and put it in the cupboard.
Jesus was looking at the Pharisees in the same way. They stated that they were clean because they went through the ceremonial washings and did all the correct sacrifices. Yet, Jesus stated that inside they were full of greed and self-indulgence.
Greed and self-indulgence is the center of self. It is looking out for yourself before anyone else, including God. The Pharisees were saying to the people “do as I say, not as I do”. They knew the laws of God, and yet broke them all the time in their hearts and lives in private.
Why do you do or say what you do and say? All too often it is to build yourself up. Many people in position, in and outside the church, often are doing things for themselves, rather than to help someone else.
Jesus had stated that every believer is supposed to be a servant to everyone else. You are to live like Jesus lived. You are to give like God gave.
It is not about you. It is not about what you can get. It is all about God, being like Jesus, and bringing others to Jesus.
Make sure your life is clean on the inside. Make sure your heart is clean before God of all greed and self. Let God’s Holy Spirit reveal to you where there is sin in your heart and allow yourself to be cleaned.
I pray today that you will seek to be clean before God; that you will allow the Holy Spirit to clean you; that you will be the same both inside and outside; that you will remove all greed in your life; and that God will use you to build His kingdom.
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