Stinky flowers and Dirty dishes

My little family took a walk thru the woods the other day.  We enjoyed all the beauty around us. Birds chirping, deer running thru the brush and soaked in the beauty of the Missouri River. As we got deeper into our little forest we noticed these beautiful purple flowers. The closer we got to them the more we noticed their odor. Odor is a correct term because it was not a pleasant fragrance. How can something look so perfect yet be so stinky?

How often does God say that of me? We can look “just right” on the outside. We know the right things to say and the right people to buddy up to. We can easily become professional Christians. We look so perfect in a field of sinners and believers, but what does God smell?

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” Matthew‬ ‭23:25-28‬ ‭ESV‬‬

In Matthew we read a warning to the Pharisees, but how true it can be for us today. Our society puts such an emphasis on outward appearance, yet often the character of individuals is never up to any scrutiny. When that attitude seeps into our lives we try to conceal the stinky parts rather than change. How dangerous it can be for us as Christians to pretend. The scripture urges us to FIRST clean the inside of the plate and the cups so that the outside may also be clean. The danger in pretending is that whatever fault we are trying to hide never comes in the open. If we continue to hide our faults we never repent and without repentance God can not begin a new work in our lives.

We all have faults. We are all stinky at times. In those times we need the grace of God and the help of our brothers and sisters in order to get us back on track.

Lord, help me always strive to be like you and always love the people around me just like you love them. Let your love lead and transform all of our lives.