Thursday, April 24, 2025

“Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” (Matthew 6:27).

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees…for ye make clean the outside of the cup and platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess” (Matthew 23:25).

Have you ever wished you were taller than you are? Or have you ever wished that you were stronger? For the girls, have you ever wished that you were more beautiful? If we are honest, probably all of us, at one time or another, have wished we had different bodies. Yet we cannot change our height, or our looks; God has made us a certain way.

The scribes and Pharisees were greatly concerned about their outward appearance, and did many things to appear righteous and good before others. Yet inside they were just as wicked as others, and perhaps even more than others, because they were hypocrites. They pretended to be what they were not.

God is far more concerned with what we are inside, than with what we appear to be outside. We cannot change our natural appearance, but we can change what we are in our character and behavior. If we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, we receive a new life in Christ. That new life immediately changes our behavior, and what a difference this makes!

Today some people spend a great deal of money to try and change their appearance by plastic surgery, etc., and this may be all right at times. If you were born with crooked teeth, it is nice to have an orthodontist straighten them for you. But how much better it is to work on what is inward! That kind of change is far more important to God.