Is Your Cup Clean?

(Today's reading - Exodus 37-38; Matthew 23:23-39)

I have never really enjoyed doing the dishes. I still help out sometimes, but not nearly as much as I should. I find dishwater gross and handling other peoples dirty plates and utensils... nasty. (I know I need to grow in this area) But as bad as doing the dishes is to me, the thought of drinking from a dirty cup makes me want to... well barf! There, I said it; it turns my stomach. When I get a glass in a restaurant, I always look it over closely and I have been known to send it back if I see anything at all that looks suspect.

Jesus uses this part of our human nature to communicate a principle to us. He is speaking to the religious elite of His day when he tells them...“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. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. (Matthew 23: 25,26) He tells them that just because something looks good outwardly, doesn't necessarily mean that the inside is clean. The outside of a cup is always easier to clean that the inside. The outside is easier to see and easier to wash, but the inside takes some work. Getting into those corners and reaching the bottom isn't always easy.

The same is true for us, spiritually speaking. Getting our outside presentable isn't all that difficult. A good bath, a haircut and some decent clothing and the world sees a respectable person. Understand, Jesus isn't minimizing the importance of our outward appearance, rather He is calling on us to understand that outward appearance is no guarantee of inward purity. (I know this all too well) I can put on a pretty good show when things in my life really stink! He wants us, as His followers to be "clean" inside and out. He wants us to start with who we really are, inside; because He knows if the inside is right, the outside takes care of itself. 

What about you? Do you struggle with getting the inside clean? He says the struggle is against greed and self-indulgence. Deep in those corners, down at the bottom, He says we think about what we want and what makes us happy and we act in our own self-interests. He tells us to get that washcloth out and scrub and scrub until the cup is clean.  How do we do that? Start with a big squirt of His Word, next run a sink full of warm relationships and pick up the washcloth of prayer and immerse yourself and allow the cleaning to begin. This isn't needed just once, this is a lifelong effort. Who drinks from a cup that was washed two weeks ago and has been used daily since? Is your cup clean?