It LOOKS Clean

All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.  (Proverbs 16:2)

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.  (Proverbs 16:25)

Do you remember when your parents would send you to clean your room, and you’d “clean” it? Somehow a kid’s idea of clean and a parent’s idea of clean don’t exist in the same universe. I remember one time our parents told my brothers and me to clean the playroom. So we did – our way. Mom said the floor was cluttered. You couldn’t even see it. “Clean it up!” So, we made a game of it and cleaned the room in record time! We were so proud of ourselves. It was almost fun! Then we called Mom in. At first, she was impressed because the floor was clear. Then she looked at the couch. Everything was piled on it. We just transferred the mess. Much to our surprise, Mom did not consider our efforts “mission accomplished” and for the next hour, we had to clean the playroom Mom’s way.

When we look at our own lives, we can consider our way to be good. We can look at our lives and think: “I’m clean.” There are many who have “turned over a new leaf” and who have found a way to clean up certain areas of their lives when really all they have done is transfer their mess. They’ve exchanged one addiction for a more “acceptable” one. Or they just live in denial of their real problems.

Only God can reveal to us what our real issues are. Only God can expose the sin in our lives. And only God can help us to do something about it. If we really want to be honest with ourselves, we have to let God’s Word be honest about ourselves. Because to be in right fellowship with Him and right relationship with our fellow man, we have to be clean. We cannot just look clean.

[Photo by Ricardo Viana on Unsplash] �