Hypocrites Look Good On The Outside But On The Inside Are Full Of Dead Men's Bones

                                                 When The Door Slams

"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. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.    (Matthew 23:27-28 NIV)    

            Evil is real, and at one time or another most of us have wondered why God doesn't just reach down and stop it. Sometimes He does-but not always, and the Bible says evil is a mystery that we won't fully understand until we get to Heaven. In the meantime, God calls us to trust Him and have confidence in His love, no matter the circumstances. 

            Maybe someone you love has cancer, or just lost a job, or is dealing with a prodigal child, or....the list of the ways that evil intersects our daily life goes on and on. Bitterness and anger can result, but don't let those emotions drive a wedge between you and the Lord God. That gains you nothing, and in the long run will only destroy you. Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind 1 Peter 2:1.

            Unfortunately, sometimes those of us who call themselves Christians are the worst public notice for our faith. We keep sinning even after we name Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and we often appear to others as insincere and hypocritical. And all too often we are.     

            Some of Jesus' strongest words were reserved for hypocrites-for people who claimed to believe in God, yet were insincere and only used their religion to try to impress others. Jesus called those people "whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones. But you are a chosen people ...that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light 1 Peter2:9. 

            Think about this: I have found that people who say, "You can't trust what the Bible says" often have never actually read it for themselves. Instead, they are only using this as an excuse to avoid the LORD. 

            The real issue for them isn't the trustworthiness of the Bible but their determination to keep God away. Deep down inside, they sense that if they took God seriously and gave their life to Christ Jesus, they would have to change their way of living-and they don't want to do that. Just pray for them. You can't change their heart and mind-but God can. Ask Him to awaken their need for Christ Jesus.

Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the LORD and thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                                        Never Rest Ministries