Matthew 23:25 “…You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” (NIV)*

The outside of the cup can be cleaned

Until fingers bleed red,

But if the inside doesn’t change

The effort falls dead.

………………..

Do, do, and do good works

Yet keep hidden selfish greed,

Play the role, say the words

And hope truth is not seen.

………………..

We long for a righteous cup

That from the outside gleams,

Blindly we polish and scrub

Reality, not what it seems.

………………..

Scrub the inside first

To be a cup clean and true,

Then, from the outside looking in

Clean will shine clear through.

………………..

photo and poem by Patty Perkins

Matthew 23:26 “Blind Pharisees! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” (NIV)*

*The One Year Bible, New International Version, copyright 1986, Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois.