All The Way Through

 

S

aturday morning is undoubtedly one of the best things in life.  No alarm clocks, no busy schedule, and no running against the clock.  It’s a day of leisure, a nice pause at the end of the week, and a time to relax.   

 

 On Saturday mornings, I wake up later than usual and make my way to the kitchen.  I open the refrigerator and usually decide to cook myself a nice breakfast.  I pull out the eggs, the bagels, and the country sausage or bacon and get ready to have a good, old-fashioned southern breakfast. 

 

Over the years I have learned to cook pork sausage over medium heat.  It is necessary to cook the meat slow so that it gets done all the way through.  Most men believe that there is only one setting for cooking—high! The problem with this approach is that only the outside of the meat gets cooked.  It gives the appearance of doneness but in reality, the inside is uncooked and can lead to unwanted illness.  

 

Now, what in the world does under-done sausage have to do with today’s devotional?  Actually, it has quite a lot to do with it. Jesus understood the dangers of appearing to be something that one wasn’t.  He knew that if we are to be God’s followers and children, then we must be his all the way through.  Unfortunately, sometimes we do a good job of appearing to be Christians on the outside while underneath we are very much under-done. 

 

This was a lesson Jesus taught repeatedly to the Pharisees.  He chided them for their inconsistent lifestyle.  He exposed their hypocrisy and chastised them for failing to uphold their position as the religious leaders of the people. He had no tolerance for those who were religious on the outside but who in actuality were only half-cooked on the inside. 

 

In Matthew 23:27-28, Jesus has this to say about the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, “You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full hypocrisy and wickedness.” 

 

Needless to say, Jesus’ words were not very popular with the Pharisees and teachers but they were accurate. But Jesus wasn’t concerned about their reputations or their egos; he was concerned about their spiritual conditions and the witness they gave. He knew that if people followed their example, spiritual sickness and death would soon follow.  Outwardly they gave the appearance of total commitment to God but inwardly they were anything but godly.   

 

The message and truth of God’s love through his son, Jesus Christ, is a pure message.  It must be carried in pure vessels and shared from a pure heart. We cannot simply give lip service to being a Christian; we must back it up by the way we live.  Everything we do, say, and think, must give testimony to the fact that we belong to God. 

 

So, today, we must ask ourselves the following questions: Are we giving a pure and total witness for Jesus Christ in all aspects of our lives?  Are we done all the way through or are we merely half-baked?