Outside vs. inside

I was thinking today about how I’m changing. I mean, I’ll be honest, I haven’t really been that ‘high maintenance lately’, without a job and finances tight, I haven’t really left the house much except to be the ‘mom taxi’ for the kids to and from school. So needless to say, my makeup bag has been left untouched and I can’t tell you the last time I shaved. HA!

BUT, I have still been thinking about how much effort, even I, having worn the same clothes for the last two days, spend on my outside. Ok, now that you are thoroughly grossed out by my hygiene let me explain!

I would probably say if I had to give up my house, my dishwasher or even my favorite pair of sneakers, I would probably pitch a fit. Something like the kicking and screaming of a toddler comes to mind, if not that, then I would at least complain and make sure my discomfort was heard and the injustice I would feel I had suffered would be made known. This sounds silly, but when you think of it in a larger scale it just gets ridiculous.

I can recall just over a year ago I justified the purchase of an expensive dress suit to my husband as something I would need for my ‘job’. I got my nose pierced last fall to ‘fit in’ with the kinds of people I was around all the time in the line of work I was pursuing. I could have and can justify anything I have done or said if I needed too clear my conscience or make you see it my way. Recently I got what I considered a really bad haircut, I couldn’t stop messing with it, and wishing I had more hats to cover it and obsessing over when could I get another hair cut to fix it so I could feel better about it and the people who had to endure looking at it. I even spent hours on my internet researching hairstyles and the latest hair trends and copying pictures to save to look at.

Seriously?

I think as humans, especially where and at the time we live in, we spend enormous amounts of time concerned with our outsides. I tell my children that when they wake up as soon as their feet hit the floor to thank God for the day, for their feet and the ability to use them, for the possibilities that they could be used for Him throughout the day. And yet I agonize over a bad haircut and I plan out my outfit weeks in advance of an event, or save up money so I can tan.

Ok, so let’s pause for a moment.

I’m NOT saying that tanning is a SIN. I’m not saying that wanting that new car is in itself a sin. I don’t believe that God doesn’t want us to delight in things, I just KNOW that he doesn’t want us to make idols of them, which is in effect what we, what I am doing, by spending my time focused on those things, WORRIED about those things, and putting God on the back burner, or worse yet, forgetting Him or what He has for me to do for Him altogether.

I have to fight everyday to focus on Him FIRST. Delight in things of this world last, and when I do, giving glory to Him for my blessings, sharing that delight with others while I’m delighting in it, sharing a part of my inside for HIM, rather than displaying my outside for THEM.

What do people see when they see me??

It scares me to think that question. Do they see the package I’ve dressed up to keep up with the Jones', my puffed out chest and display of peacock feathers in a bragging fashion, or do they see God when they see me? I've been so busy keeping up with the trends, finding the latest and greatest comfort and instant gratification gadgets and methods, instead of seeking His will. I've been trying to become like the world instead of trying to become like Christ.

I've been putting on the 'uniform' of society, of this world instead of the armor of God.

There is a quote in my bible study that I like: "Jesus said, 'Follow me.' His desire is that His Word and His Spirit be our guides for this life. Being a follower of Jesus Christ means becoming more and more like Him- letting His Spirit transform us into all we were created to be. That happens, dear friend, from the inside out." - Luci Swindoll

Verse to Ponder: Romans 12:2 (NLT)

2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.