Getting Over the Wall

Scripture Verses
Matthew 23:25-26
 
25"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. 26Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Devotion
In ancient China, the people wanted to protect themselves from the Mongols to the north. In order to accomplish this national security goal, the Chinese emperor ordered construction of the only humanly constructed wonder of the world that can be seen from outer space. No doubt you have figured out that I’m talking about the Great Wall of China.

The Great wall was too tall to be climbed over. It was too thick to be knocked down, and it was too long to go around. Hooray!! The security problem was solved. Or, perhaps it wasn’t.
The Mongols invaded in spite of the construction of such an imposing means of defense. How did this happen?

It seems that all that the Mongols had to do in order get past the Great Wall was to bribe a gatekeeper to open the gate for them. The flaw in China’s defense strategy was that it depended upon the integrity of the guard on duty. It seems to me that this integrity gap is a prevalent issue even to the current day.

Too many people are more concerned about outward appearance than they are about what’s going on inside.

You see so many advertisements these days that advocate botox injections, hair colorings, hair growth products, not to mention a humongous industry in weight reduction products, all dedicated to the preoccupation with recovering lost youth.

And Jesus says to us, “you clean up the outside (of the cup), & inside you are full of greed & self-indulgence.” Matt. 23: 25. It’s the same lesson learned by the ancient Chinese leaders when they built the Great Wall. It’s not an appearance problem. It’s a heart problem! What led to the Mongol invasion was the same thing that led to the collapse of the Roman Empire. The Romans had the most formidable military apparatus in the history of the ancient world. The Romans were ultimately doomed by moral corrosion from within.

It’s an all too familiar theme. It’s been said that “your walk talks, & your talk talks. But your walk talks louder than your talk talks.” The moral of this lesson is that if you want your walk to talk louder than your talk, it is essential that we remember that no matter how impressive the outside may appear, it is the inside that ultimately must be made strong. In order to close this crucial integrity gap, we must give the Lord Jesus absolute 1st place in our hearts. Outward purity will inevitably flow from the grace that streams straight from the heart of Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Lord Jesus, come take the 1st place in our hearts. We pray that, by your abundant grace, our Christian walks & our Christian talks will be made one.  Amen.