We know how to clean our bodies by showering or bathing, but do we understand that we also need to have our insides cleaned? Our hearts, our minds, our souls? How do I know this? Because I have been confronted with this myself. What in the world do I mean? Bear with me and read these words.

Luke 11:37-44, ‘And as he spake, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him; and he went in, and sat down to meat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner. And the Lord said unto him,’ “Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. But woe unto you, Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgement and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.” Psalm 5:9 states, ‘For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.’ …They gave no thought to the condition inside themselves and how spiritually distant they really were from God. They were passing over God’s love for them and passing over what God really thinks of them in their condition. The most important thing to Jesus, to God, about each one of us is our spiritual side, and what we are truly like on the inside.

We need to ask Jesus to help us, and we need to take action about how our insides are to be kept by reading his words. He wants all our corners cleaned out. He would like us to desire holiness and his righteousness and to be like him. We as people can spend an exorbitant amount of time on our outside appearance and status and the like can’t we? But what about the inside and what about our conscience? Jesus desires for us to see our insides as the most important, not the outside. Our thoughts are most important to him. It’s opposite of how the world thinks isn’t it? If we don’t start looking at Jesus, the one who made us, reading his word to help us understand what he thinks, we will never learn all there is he wants us to know about him, ourselves, our insides, and this world. Jesus was saying to the Pharisees, look inside yourselves and at your sins and what you are doing… you are living not from me but from yourselves. The Pharisees desired only to lift themselves up in their own eyes and other people’s eyes, to be seen, to be recognized, be pointed to, and revered. They cared so much for the outside and their power, but never took the time to look deep inside within and see the lack thereof. The Old Testament had laws that said if a person touched a grave he was unclean. Jesus said because of the Pharisees corruptness they were guilty of making everyone else who came into contact with them unclean also. Innocent people became contaminated themselves with sin and got caught up in uncleanness too, because of not staying close enough to God, and staying away from these truly ungodly leaders. Sin keeps a person separated from God. But Jesus has provided a way for us.

Please read more. In Luke 11:45-54: ‘Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master; thus saying thou reproachest us also. And he said,’ “Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchers of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchers. Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.” ‘And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things: Laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out of his mouth, that they might accuse him.’

How blind can a person be right?! The Pharisees wanted to be known for building tombs for the prophets but didn’t look at how their forefathers could possibly be wrong in killing the prophets? This is because they refused to even consider Jesus. Jesus talked about the load people had to carry on the inside because of all the Pharisees’ rules, and how the ‘experts in the law’ didn’t do anything about it… uncaring, selfish and truly blind that they were because of no empathy here in their lives. And even after Jesus leaves, the Pharisees continue to conspire against Jesus instead of having a look inside themselves and trying to understand even a little of what Jesus was talking to them about. Attack and do not look inside to see if there might be even a grain of truth inside! And in reality if they had they would have seen that Jesus was telling them the whole truth. He was their long awaited Messiah! We must take time for our inside, our conscience, to be thought about. God wants us to compare ourselves to what we see and hear about in his word. Why? Because our thoughts and feelings can be wrong unless we compare them against the truth of God’s word. He gives us the straight story about ourselves. Just ask him to help you. You can change and be better for it!

Jesus tells us we cannot change from the inside out without his help and grace. We are dependent upon him, and he wants us to depend on him for this and ask for his help. No one can truly understand about God and that they need him, without him, and him drawing you to him. So if you are reading this, this is a sign, that he is drawing you as you read this. It is very exciting! His grace is truly a free gift given for each of us and that only, Jesus Christ himself, can give to someone. It is personal and it is from Jesus. Ephesians 2:8-10 tells us, ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.’ We may try to change ourselves on our own but we will always fall short because it is beyond our ability. Coming to Christ for salvation is not a work. You can do nothing without him. For you must become born again to be changed and cleaned on the inside, as God’s word says in John 3:1-8. Read it for yourself. We need Jesus Christ. And he created us for relationship with himself. Only Jesus can cleanse us from our sin from the inside out. Jesus gives us this hope in the true story of his gospel; coming into the world born of the virgin Mary, death on the cross, shedding his blood for each of us, and rising from the dead on the third day thereby destroying sin’s power over death and us being able to live with Jesus while on this earth and for eternity in heaven. Jesus Christ is the free gift in what he did for you and is given to any who sincerely desire to have a new and changed life in him, for those who desire with whole hearts to repent fully of their sins and believe in him and what he’s done for them. Come just as you are if you desire to have this new life and believe he did this for you. No need to ‘clean up’ before you come, because Jesus loves you right where you are at right now. In John 14:6 Jesus tells us, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Glory be to God for providing a way for us!

Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, Jesus is coming back one day!