top down problem

Last week I was looking out my office window to the parking lot below and there was a Volkswagen beetle that looked fine from every angle but the roof. The paint on the roof was badly damaged, maybe from prolonged exposure to some sort of corrosive tree sap or something. I don't know, I'm not sure, but it looked rusted and discolored while the rest of the body looked fine.


It made me think how we can be that way. We can give the appearance that we are doing the right thing and have it all together on the outside but all the while our "roof" aka our inner thoughts are a mess of anger, pride, fill in the blank with your vice. Appearances can be deceiving.


Jesus said in Matthew 23, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."


Seeing that car made me think how living a holy life is a top down problem. Our thoughts direct our words and ultimately our actions. We can't hope to act righteously when we starve our spirit giving it no Living Word to feed on but a 1000 other lesser things. 


We are fickle fallible mortals and we have to fight alot of things - genetics, hormones, past difficulties - and sometimes it's a tough fight and we can lose our way. I know there are times when I can look back on a part of the past and depending on my mood or mental state, the very same event can be a source of debilitating pain or proof of resiliency that sparks the strength to go on. It's the times of struggle when when we can't find hope or can't see the truth with our own eyes that we need most to see with His eyes. During His life on earth Jesus saw and experienced earthly sorrows but He also had the benefit of the eternal lens. I don't think we think about eternity enough especially in our society and culture of instant gratification. We are quickly fading flowers, here today and gone tomorrow. 


Jesus said, "For where your treasure is there your heart will be also." He doesn't mince words when it comes to telling us mortals that we are most often not honest with ourselves, much less honest with each other. However, there is one thing that will give away the real us every time: it's our heart. “Where our treasure is there our heart will be also.“ I find myself asking, "What am I treasuring?" xo