A few weeks ago Biscuit came to my bathroom on a Sunday morning. I was fixing my hair and he asked me for a new toothbrush. I asked him where his toothbrush was and he said, "It's in my suitcase."
It would be okay if Biscuit's toothbrush was in his suitcase, if we had just gotten home from a trip, but the problem was.....we had been home since the Tuesday before!!! We had been home 5 days! What Biscuit was then saying was that he had NOT brushed his teeth in FIVE DAYS! Ohhhhhhhh, that's not good!
After the initial shock of realizing what Biscuit was admitting to, I promptly instructed him to go find his toothbrush and use it. But as Biscuit was leaving to follow his instructions, I mentioned to him that he needed to take a little pride in himself.....care about what he looks like, smells like, and what his teeth are like as far as cleanliness. Biscuit, dressed in grey slacks, a light aqua shirt and tie replied, rather confidently, "Mom, if I didn't care, I wouldn't look like this!" Apparently Biscuit thought he looked pretty sharp....pretty good! He wasn't very happy that I hadn't noticed how good he looked, but that I was only upset about him not brushing his teeth in five days!
I couldn't help but laugh as Biscuit left the room that morning. He's a character, for sure!
Biscuits' idea of "looking good on the outside" versus "being dirty on the inside (teeth)"reminds me of our spiritual lives. From the outside we may look pretty good. We may do many good things for God. We may talk about Jesus, prayer, the Bible, etc. We may even sit on a pew once, twice, or even three times a week. On the outside we look really good - the way a "good" Christian should. But what if our thoughts are evil? What if we are constantly looking for ways to cause trouble and strife in the lives of others? What if we are seeking revenge on an enemy? What if hatred is in our heart? If we look good on the outside, but have "dirty" insides, we've got a problem, don't we?
Maybe our faith is shallow. Maybe we're struggling to grow in Christ as we know we need to do. Maybe we are content with just looking good, but don't really care about making a full commitment to Christ and spreading the gospel to others. Maybe we're like Biscuit.....we think we look pretty sharp because of our outward appearance.
Biscuit had to go searching through his suitcase to find what was missing. We must search the scriptures and the inspired Word of God to see what is missing in our lives. God can help up clean up what is dirty! The blood of Jesus can make us white as snow so that the inside of us is clean - just like the outside may be.
Hopefully Tyler will never have a span of time like that again - where he isn't brushing his teeth. Hopefully he has learned a tough lesson about keeping his teeth clean.....matching his outside "look". And hopefully you and I will look for the unclean spots in our own lives and with God's help get them cleaned up and as good as new!
“Come now, let us settle the matter,”
says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool."
Isaiah 1:18
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lordlooks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lordlooks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7
No comments:
Post a Comment