Wednesday August 30th: Practice what you preach

…” you hypocrites, you are like whitewashed tombs” …

Matthew 23:27-32

“Hypocrites!” Hear Jesus’ voice. Certainly not in the ‘gentle Jesus, meek and mild’ tone. He repeats the description even as he expounds on the characteristics. I remember the term ‘sanctimonious’ used to describe a person I met who would pray up a storm and in the same breath later, would utter some well-placed obscenities making you wonder if it was the same person. I am moved to hum, ‘Search me, O God’, for Jesus is speaking to me too and…to you.
It can be easy for me to label people as hypocrites who appear good and honest, but I know are not so; many in and out of church who can put on a good show, but their real self is far from that; husbands, wives, children, religious leaders and more. Easy to point fingers but…how can we tell if someone is real or false/ Not always easy. We may have a gut feeling but may think whether we should judge. Jesus’ call is for us to be authentic, and the psalmist acknowledges with “O Lord, you …know me.”