FAITH CAPSULE: It is evil for any believer to think that inside can be neglected based on a flimsy excuse.

Matthew 23

As an acclaimed believer of Jesus as Lord and Savior, how clean is your inside compared to your outside? It is important to know that what you present on the outside is not as important to what you carry in the inside. The Pharisees were one of the major sect or special – interest groups among the Jews during the days of the New Testament. Pharisees, meaning separated ones, believed that religious rituals and separation from sinners were the way to please God. Matters such as the laws of tithing and ritual purity were very important to the Pharisees. Jesus referred to them as hypocrites. He said in Matthew 23:25, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self indulgence.” Every believer has a need to take a close look at self from the inside to know how much of the spirit of Pharisees inhabits your life.

Are you one of those who want to shine on the outside while the inside is dull and cannot be presented before the Lord? Are you a modern day Pharisees that will offer more than what is requested for the outside while the inside is not being attended to? By virtue of the days we are living, every believer does have a need for serious self-examination. Man can be deceived but God cannot be deceived. It is possible to come out on Sundays or on days of fellowshipping, presenting self on the outside as holy and neat while you are having a neglected inside that is dirty and rusty.
It does not matter how long you have been getting away with your hypocrisy.  Just think of the fact that God does not and will not overlook sin. It is evil for any believer to think that inside can be neglected based on a flimsy excuse while the outside is being upgraded. Know today that “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” (Ecclesiastes 8:11) If you can consider yourself as one that fits into the identity of the Pharisees, it is never too late to get out from the outside and begin from the inside of yourself for a thorough readjustment. Jesus said in Matthew 23: 26, “Blind Pharisees, first cleanse the inside of the cup and the dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. God will never look from outside to inside, but rather conducts examinations from the inside to the outside.  Stop decaying, stop deception and go ask God for His deliverance in your life.

Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to have your inside intact to the glory of God.