When I was a kid I hated to vacuum (well, let's be honest, I don't love it now. When I would get to our basement, where I was out of sight, I would turn the vacuum on and leave it sitting in the middle of the floor roaring proudly while I took a little rest. Of course then there was the problem of a freshly "vacuumed" carpet with no vacuum lines. So, after I wrapped the cord I would run the now silent vacuum around the room so the carpet would have lines. Smart, huh? No one would know. Years later I told my mom about my ingenious scheme; she replied, "for all that work, you could have just vacuumed." She was right. The truth is, I had to take extra steps and do more work to fake vacuuming instead of just vacuuming. The work was actually harder - I mean, just try moving a vacuum around the room while it is off.
How much time and energy do we spend trying to make ourselves look like we are living obediently instead of just being obedient. I think of Jesus' woe to the Scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23:27, "For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness." We work hard to make it seem like we are committed instead of just being committed. We work hard making it seem like we are kind and loving instead of just being loving. We work hard to make every excuse in the world as to why our "obedience" and "godliness" doesn't look like what Scripture demands. We painstakingly beautify our tombstone hoping no one will notice the bones inside. Oh, we have the vacuum lines but the carpet is far from clean and really, no one is falling for it - especially our Heavenly Father.
What could you do "for all that work. . ."?
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