Useless Carwash

Once in a while I like to take my wife’s car and get it washed.  Usually, it is because my children have drawn tons of faces and animals in the thick layer of dust and every so often the canvas needs to be wiped clean so in a week or two they have a fresh car to tag.  This past week I took my wife’s car to the auto wash.  It was the type of car wash where you pay the money and just drive through.  Well, after the wash, the car literally looked like I paid the money and drove through without getting the wash.  I sat in the car during the multi-cycle wash – I saw the water hitting the car – I watched the color foam get sprayed on – I even drove through the jet engine dryers (which in my experiences doesn’t ever fully dry your car off).  As I pulled out of the car wash, to my disappointment, the thick layer of dirt and dust on the windshield remained (I included the picture from inside my car).  When I got home, I looked at the rest of the car and sure enough, the dirt remained. 

 

 

Yes I was frustrated.  But something else also caught my eye.  While I attempted to clean the outside of the car, I didn’t even think to clean the inside.  The outside of the car was minor in comparison to what my two children had done to the inside. 

 

Yesterday we kicked off our “Biggest Loser” series with Matthew 25:1-13 – The Parable of the 10 Bridesmaids.  If you didn’t get a chance to hear the message, you can find it on the website www.westk.org.  In verse 9, after 5 of the unprepared bridesmaids asked the other 5 for some oil for their lamps, they replied with: “No, there may not be enough for both you and us.  Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourself.”  Long story short, I think Jesus included this verse because he is teaching us that each person is responsible for their own salvation.  Salvation is not like a surplus of oil, where you can borrow some from another person.  It’s also not something that is done on the outside.  It is an inward transformation that takes place when we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. 

 

Matthew 23:27 (Go ahead and look it up and read) –

 

Jesus calls these religious teachers white washed tombs.  If they were a vehicle, the outside of the car would be spotless.  They would be waxed, tires polished, windshield free of dust, and with a perfect paintjob.  But the inside of the car would be a disaster. 

 

So what’s the answer?  Jump back a few verse to Matthew 23:25-36 (read this).  Did you catch that?  Clean the inside first!  And what happens when the inside is clean?  The outside will also be clean. 

 

The cleansing of our soul, the sins in our life, the hurt, pain, sorrow, regret, jealous, bitterness, etc. starts with the cleansing of the inside.  It starts with the cleansing of our heart.  But unlike a carwash that cleans what is already there, when we come to accept Jesus as the king of our life, we are given a new heart.  We are given a new life that beats for God. 

 

Check out some of the following verses: Ezekiel 36:26; 2 Corinthians 3:18 & 5:17-21, and Ephesians 4:17-32