Attracted By the Outside

Yesterday I wrote about how God does not use appearance as a measure of our worth. I was reminded of that yesterday evening in a practical way. Beverly and I are in the middle of trying to find a place to live. We will probably rent for now, and build next year. But I found a house on the web. It looked really nice. So, I drove out to take a look. Beautiful lot. Deer running all over the place. Nice pool. Cute front porch. I thought that maybe this was the answer.

So, we had our realtor set up a viewing for late yesterday afternoon. Everything was going well until we opened the front door. Its floors were a strange shade of blue -- both tile and carpet. One bedroom was painted in the nicest shade of orange that I have ever seen for a bedroom. Actually, come to think of it -- I've never seen an orange bedroom before. Maybe they paint it seasonally, and this is their halloween stage. And then there was the master closet -- which set back the meaning of master.

Needless to say, we were drawn in by looks. I'm reminded of what Jesus said (Matthew 23: 27-28) "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 dead men's bones 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."

I don't want Jesus to say that about me when he looks me over. Yet, I know that there are areas of my life in which what He said applies. That's why I pray every day that He will examine my heart and do surgery so that when He looks at me, He sees Himself -- inside and out.