Keep it clean!!

We have a front load washing machine. One of the things the salesman told us when we purchased it was to drain and clean the filter often, and wipe the door seal down every few loads. Well at first, me being me, didn’t think it was that important. I kept the outside all wiped down but forgot about the filter and seal. After awhile it began to stink! Like it was gross!! Then I remembered what he had told us( my wife told me). So I cleaned the inside seal and drained the filter. In Matthew 23:25-28 Jesus was talking about the “religious leaders” of that day. He compared them to a cup that had only been cleaned on the outside but the inside was still dirty. Cleaning the inside was more important. He also used a tomb as an example. They kept the grave stones cleaned and looking nice but the inside was full of dead bones!
He wasn’t talking about cups and tombs though. He was talking about them. And us. If we only have the appearance of being holy, like going to church and giving to the poor and so on, but inside our hearts we are still wicked, like hating our neighbor or coveting their stuff and so on, then we are only holy in appearance. We are not clean at all! like my washing machine, we stink!! What good does it do for us to do all the “religious stuff” if we are not changing what’s going on inside? Jesus says in verse 26 to first clean the inside of the cup and the outside will be clean as well. In other words, if we are truly working on changing our hearts to be hearts that love God and his word, then how we are perceived won’t be fake but real!! Dear Lord, forgive us for being hypocrites!! Teach us by your word to be clean inside and out!!
Merry Christmas my friends!! Remember that Jesus is the one who put the Christ in Christmas. There is no x.