My dad has this thing about graveyards. Growing up, whenever our family took a road trip, we would inevitably stop by some graveyard and wander around the tombstones. I always thought it was kinda weird, but as I’ve gotten older, the idea has grown on me.
The other day, I was reading the Bible (which is a really neat thing to do when you have spare time) and read Matthew 23:27. I’ve read the verse before, trust me, but it hit me differently. It’s Jesus talking to the Pharisees, and He tells them that they’re like tombs that are nice on the outside, but on the inside they’re full of dead men’s bones.
How do you display your life to others? What kind of image do you like to portray? Do you have an outward show of spirituality so others think you’re right with God? The clothes you wear, the things you say, the places you go — would you do all those things if no one was watching you?
I’ve seen some nice crypts. Most are pleasant to look at. Each one displays a different kind of character, and I wonder how many mirror the personality of the person contained within: beautiful, intricate, strong. But the person inside is dead, literally worth nothing. They’re doing nothing except rotting away. What good is a corpse? Can the dead serve God? (Ps. 6:5).
Jesus said that doing things in order to impress others or to display a spirituality is like a crypt. It might indeed be beautiful — people will probably be impressed. But at the end of the day, what good is it, really? The person who is “spiritual” in order to impress others is really just a bunch of bones, rotting away on the inside.
There is a tree right outside my window. Actually, there are four trees that I see, and a jagged stump of another, with two stacks of firewood beside it. That tree used to look like the others – standing tall and strong. But one night, in the middle of a storm, it fell down. Thankfully it missed our house, but it took down part of another tree with it. The inside of that tree was hollow, rotted away from the inside out. Though it looked good on the outside, it couldn’t stand the pressure of the storm. It couldn’t stand firm when it was attacked.
How about you? Do you build yourself a nice-looking crypt that contains only dead men’s bones, or are you abounding with life on the inside? When the storm comes, are you strong in Christ, or will you fall because your heart is rotten? God desires “truth in the inward parts” (Ps. 51:6), and to those who desire it, He will give wisdom. Be honest with yourself, and allow God to change your thinking and your motives first so your actions will be pleasing to Him.
Victoria White is a graduate of Baptist College of Ministry and a member of Falls Baptist Church in Menomonee Falls, WI. She has a burden for young people to understand the Bible and to live for God in this world. She has 6 siblings and lives in Germantown, WI.
