Inside and Out

Inside and Out

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees,

you hypocrites!  You are whitewashed tombs

which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside,

are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.

Matthew 23:27

This beautiful flower comes from the Datura plant.  The erect, trumpet-like flowers dazzle in shades of white, pink, yellow and pale purple.  The dark green foliage hides spiny capsules about the size of a golf ball that split open when ripe, releasing an abundance of seeds.  I used to have a row of these beauties growing in my front yard, until I discovered that even the tiniest piece of this plant contains toxic hallucinogens, and has a long history of causing delirium and death if ingested.  The flowers are gorgeous but lethal, especially to small animals.

Jesus found the Pharisees to be very similar to my poisonous flowers.  In their flowing robes and gold mitered headdress, they were beautiful on the outside.  They appeared to be perfect human beings who kept every law ever written.  But inside, many of them were grasping, devious, power hungry, vain, amoral men.  Society rewards the exterior beauty, brains and brawn of their chosen celebrities.  God cares about the condition of the heart.

I have met stunningly beautiful people who were vain, rude and self-absorbed.  I have  friends who will never grace the runways of this world, but their kindness, compassion and love pour forth to others from their beautiful hearts.  Lord, help us today to have true inner beauty – reflecting Your glory and grace.

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I want to walk as a child of the light;

I want to follow Jesus.

God set the stars to give light to the world.

The star of my life is Jesus.

In Him there is no darkness at all,

The night and the day are both alike.

The Lamb is the light of the city of God.

Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.

The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 206