Read: Matthew
23:23-28
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward,
but are within full of dead men's
bones, and of all uncleanness. Matthew 23:27
The 1955
hit song, “The Great Pretender,” was recorded by a group called the Platters. The
song speaks of a man who is lonely in love but lives his life pretending as if
everything is just fine. Perhaps because so many people could relate, the song
made it to number one atop several music charts of the day.
Many Christian young people live their
lives the same way that the young man in the song spoke of his love life. They
know exactly how they are supposed to act because they have been in church as
long as they can remember. They know what is expected of them, so they conform
outwardly. The inside, however, is far from being what is should be; yet it is
what is on the inside that is most important because it is what they really
are. The private life is what matters – who you are when nobody is looking. The
men that most would consider unable to fall often fall prey to Satan’s devices
because what everyone thinks them to be by watching them outwardly is not who
they really are inwardly.
Consider two examples. Judas was a
disciple of Jesus. When Jesus announced that one of His own would betray Him,
several of the disciples asked the Lord if they were the ones who would betray
Him. They didn’t automatically point the finger at Judas, sure that He was the
one that would turn Jesus over to the Jews. They doubted themselves more than
they doubted Judas. That means that Judas was an upstanding, good-looking
person on the outside; his actions later that night proved that he was someone
completely different than what he portrayed. Jesus, on the other hand, was the
same on the inside as He was on the outside. He said He was against sin, and
His thirty-three years of life on this earth proved His point.
You cannot have fellowship with Jesus if
you are not right in the area where He sees you – the inside. Would you take
things into your life that Jesus would not approve of if He were standing there
with you? You must remember that, though you cannot see Him in bodily form, He
is with you always. He sees each action, knows each thought, and hears each
spoken word. The private life is what really matters. Do people see the real
you when they see you outwardly, or are you a great pretender?
Quote of the day: “To fake it is to stand guard over emptiness.” – Arthur
Herzog
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