Woe is Me, Woe is You

I just finished washing our supper dishes. I’m not a big fan of automatic dishwashers. I’ve used them, of course; I just like putting my hands in hot and sudsy dish water. There are limits; many years ago, I worked as a dishwasher at an A & W drive-in. Hot dish water and cold outdoor temperatures led to chapped, sore hands.

A scripture passage came to mind as I finished up tonight’s dishes…

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, 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, so the outside of it may also become clean.”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every impurity. In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (Matthew 23:25-28 HCSB).”

Woe is me; woe is you. God looks way beyond the surface; He knows us inside-out.

“Summoning the crowd again, He told them, ‘Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him (Mark 7:14-15 HCSB.”

Praise God; He can cleanse us of all sin!

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9 HCSB).”