"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead [men's] bones and all uncleanness.
(Matthew 23:25-27)

Last week, I took a group of kids in my work to do community service at one of the cemeteries here in Las Cruces, it is actually one of the uglier ones in town (more like ghetto) and many are of people whose families just left there to get dirty...but some of those tombs are very well and elaborately decorated, with all kinds of adornments and things that remind them of the person, when he/she was alive. This painted a picture in my head...not that there is anything wrong with wanting to keep the place where a loved one's body rests eternally, but what is the point on doing it such an elaborate way?

As I saw many of those "nicer" tombs, I thought of the reality inside of them, a grotesque and rotten body, just a body, no life in it, but on the outside it was very nicely decorated for it to be in display to everyone who walked by.

I think in many cases, our walk is the same way, we like to adorn ourselves with nice titles and good deeds and basically put up a "goody-goody" face, when in reality, inside our spirit is rotten. Many people walk around daily, professing to be Christians, telling people of how good they are, how they feed and clothe the poor, but their lives are lies. I have met many Christians like that through out my whole life, many people are experts in deceiving others into thinking they are so holy and righteous, when their life proves the opposite.

In this passage, Jesus is addressing the Pharisees who publicly make themselves seem so holy and close to God, when in reality it is a lie and mere traditions, claiming to know God without truly knowing God.

Even I, when I first started walking with the Lord, around the time I was 18 or 19, was nothing more than a white washed tomb, I kept returning to repentance every time salvation was preached at church, I had no growth, it was mostly talk and I deceived many into thinking that I was this "Holier than thou" person. I kept "rededicating" my life to God every time I had the opportunity, even fearing for my salvation and questioning if I was truly saved every now and then.

But as my walk progressed and I started maturing in Christ, I realized that it wasn't about my good deeds, or how much my mouth spoke, it was about what was truly in my heart, it was about my walk with Jesus, rather than what I told people my walk was, it was about the fruits that blossomed, rather than how much I helped others. Jesus changed this wretched man that I was and turned him into someone who really desires to follow Him, in spirit and in truth, not just in words or appearances.

Another verse I recently read on the same lines:

'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with [their] lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching [as] doctrines the commandments of men.'
(Matthew 15:8-9)

This verse touches what I was just saying, it is easy for us to tell people how good we are, how strong we are, and how great our lives seem to go. I read once in a book about a Christian man that would perfectly know the "Christian lingo" and even addressed people as "brother______ or sister_______", but in reality lived a double life, in public he seemed like this man who had discovered the secret to a perfect and holy life, but at home was a sad man, alcoholic and a wife beater. His life became exposed eventually to his church and he struggled to justify his actions. Friends and family deserted him and he realized he needed to stop living that double life, and be true about his walk with Christ.

Sometimes, it takes me some time to gain trust when I meet new people, I might act friendly at first, but sometimes some people have this "spark" in me that makes me doubt them, sadly this happens specially with new Christians I meet. I have a good reason for that since I have been played in the past by people, another part is just my personality. I often wonder if they feel the same way about me.

One thing I do know, it is one thing to say we are Christians and another to truly act as Christians, not just around other Christians, but around worldly people as well. God can even see us in the times when we fall.

I am far from being perfect and will never claim to be, I am a work in progress, and I have my whole rest of my life ahead of me to continue to be molded and sculpted...until the very end.