More Woes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Matthew 23: 27-32

Be True Inside and Out

²⁷ “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 the bones of the dead and everything unclean. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

²⁹ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. ³⁰ And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

Jesus has no tolerance for fakers. He strongly advises us to be on the inside what we display on the outside, or to practice what we preach, to use a familiar saying. Not an easy thing to do, but essential. He has no place for hypocrisy, neither should we, especially with ourselves. We try to eliminate  it, but keep slipping back into it.  Let us not be ashamed to begin over and over again. Eventually it will 'click". As we celebrate St, Augustine today, let us keep him in mind as an example of one who wandered, searched and found (or was found!)

Bro. Rene

Dear God, cleanse me to be on the outside what I am on the inside. Amen