Office coffee cups, there’s nothing like them, right? In the cupboard they may sit there all looking nice with their designs and often funny captions. But pick one up and take a look inside and that’s a different story! A decision is then made whether you really want a coffee or not?!
“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. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” (Matthew 23 v 25-26)
A hypocrite is a person who purposely deceives others. They appear right, all the while they hide or deflect the reality of their wrongness. They deny the invitation of grace because they deny their own sinfulness to either themselves or their world. The moment we deflect our own wrong in order to expose the wrong in others is when we become a hypocrite.
Your purity isn’t from performance but from His action on the cross. Your purity isn’t from you, it is from Him. Your purity isn’t announced by man but from Him. Your purity is not yours, it is His.
Jesus took our imperfections when he died on the cross. His broken and bleeding body bore our legalistic efforts and demands and judgments on others who don’t meet our standards. All our efforts now fall to the ground as we rest in His purity. Our obedience is not work to prove but love and joy. We live life knowing He makes all things beautiful, impure hearts pure and the inside of office coffee cups clean!
Missions Paul 