I recently heard of a place that is fining their residents somewhere between $500-$1000 for dirty cars. They say it affects the aesthetic look of the location and could be a hazard to other vehicles if the wind kicks up and blows the dirt on passing vehicles. I don't care one way or another. Definitely revenue building but not focusing on what's important. What the vehicle is like under the hood? Is it going to break down on the side of the road? Is the engine in good working order? We all know a vehicle cant run very long with a bad/worn out engine.
This made me think of the Christian walk. There are Christians who look the part and act the part - try to show the world they have it all together by going to church, socializing, maybe even attending Bible Study. They are there every time the church doors are open, yet forget about taking care of the most vital part of their existence: the heart.
Just as a car can't operate without a well oiled engine, so the Christian life can't function without a well oiled heart. One that hides Gods word. One that cares for the afflicted. One that praises Him in the victories and the storms. One that weeps with those facing loss and devastation. One that longs after the Father. Not one who pretends and puts on the appearance of a perfect person.
You know what I've experienced? Perfect people (or the belief that one is perfect) have so much further to fall. And they will fall. Not one of us is without sin. We may work really hard at covering it up, but guess what? It's still there. Just because you hide it doesn't mean it goes away. It actually means it will resurface when you least need/want it to. And the devastation of its revealing at a date and time not of your choosing tends to do much more damage then if you had just told the car buyer from the beginning there were a few mechanical issues but nothing a little tlc couldn't fix.
I remember when I was striving to be perfect. Doing anything and nothing that put off even the very appearance of sin or evil. I remember someone telling me they thought I was protected. That God had His hand over my life in such a way that nothing could touch me. I think this could be true for all His children but if you don't maintenance that Christian walk...the heart will begin to fail and sin or guck will enter the pciture. Once I went off to college, Christian college mind you, even though I was taking Bible classes and on the praise team, I wasn't intentionally hiding His word in my heart. I wasn't oiling my heart. I wasn't performing the regular maintenance checks. I was in church because our traveling team would sing in churches nearly every Sunday, I taught kids choir and interned in youth ministries; I was talking the talk but I was barely walking the walk.
When I got married I thought life would be perfect because perfect people have perfect marriages. After all, I had done it the right way. I waited for marriage. My husband was the first guy I ever kissed. What could go wrong? Well lots of things and we'll get to some of those another day but the meat of it was that we were not connected to a body of believers. We were not plugged into a church, we were not oiling the engine of our marriage. We let the desires of the world destroy us piece by piece and it was a slow painful death.
As I look back on it now, we had friends that reached out and tried to help us but they were on the other side of the country. When we finally realize we needed help, we had one of the best marriage counselors our church could offer but quite frankly-it was too late. I read all the books but we weren't reading THE Book on a consistent basis. Friends, you must saturate your life with Jesus. He alone is the One that can make the inside beauty match the outside beauty, and dare I say make the inside beauty more beautiful than your outside beauty.
Beauty will fade. As we get older, those grey hairs and wrinkles will creep their way to the surface, no matter how you attempt to cover them up. But your heart, your soul - if you focus on taking care of them...you'll always be the most beautiful person in the room. It will be quite clear that you are the complete package -well oiled and taken care of dents, scratches, chipped paint and all. But that's what makes you the authentic. Not perfect, restored!
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