How to Wake the Dead

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." Matthew 23:27-28

In Jesus' days on earth, tombs would be marked during Passover week so those on their way to Jerusalem wouldn't accidentally defile themselves by touching a place where the dead have been buried.  If they were to touch one of the tombs, they would be cast out of society for 5 days until they were to be considered clean enough to enter society again.  Marking the tombs didn't change the fact that there were still rotting carcases in the inside of these mausoleums.

Jesus' message to the Pharisees is the same for us as well.  We can showcase the outsides of our bodies as a way of saying we're "Christians", but what if we do nothing to grow closer to God?  In our relationships with people, how long do our friendships stay strong the less time we spend with each other?  In this same way, if we don't continually seek Christ, our relationship with Him grows distant and decays.  We may tote around that "we're all good" by going to church and having once accepted Christ, but that doesn't mean our relationship with our Creator is healthy.

These teachers of the Law, God's Word, continually focused their lives on their leadership position of authority.  Instead of drawing closer to God, whom they proclaimed they served, they were too focused on how they looked to the people.

We all have areas of our life that, when we really take the time to look at it, separate us from our relationship to God.  Last night, I led the teens in a time of writing those barriers over to God and renewing their relationship to Him.  Each teen came up to the front and had their letters nailed to a makeshift cross we had built.  It's not only great to see people in action with their faith, it's also inspiring.  I hope to inspire others with my faith, but my main focus is on growing closer to God and not letting anything come between us.