Does the Outside Really Matter?

By Belinda Young

"But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work." 2 Timothy 2:20-21

I was doing some cooking the other day. I was making a sauce that used distilled vinegar. 

I used what little I had, but it was not nearly enough for what I needed. 

I knew we had several gallons of it around somewhere. My husband had used it for cleaning things outside. So I went to him and asked him if he knew where any of the gallons of distilled vinegar were. He told me he had several gallons in the woodshed. 

I went to the woodshed and found some gallons of distilled vinegar that were unopened. They still had the seal on them. But the outside was awfully dirty. I didn't even want to take a bottle inside my house because it was so dirty. But I knew what was on the inside of the bottle was just fine. It was as pure and clean as what I had used in the kitchen. 

But my kitchen was clean, and I was working with food in the kitchen! I was not about to bring that bottle into my kitchen and set it on the countertop with all the food that I was preparing. 

But . . . the distilled vinegar on the inside of this bottle was just fine. 

But. . . I could not use it because the outside would contaminate what I was doing. 

So the only choice I had - if I was going to use this bottle of distilled vinegar - was to wash the outside of the bottle up and then take it into my house. So I rinsed it off with water. It was still grimy and not fit to set on my kitchen counter. So I got some Dawn dish soap and water and made some hot soapy water. I got a rag and scrubbed the outside to make it all clean and satisfactory to go inside my house to sit on my countertop with food that I was going to serve. The inside still contained pure distilled vinegar. But the outside had to be cleaned up for me to be able to use it for cooking.

There are many people who have said they are saved and they have trusted in the Lord Jesus as their Savior. They may be pure and right on the inside.

But God has to clean the outside up so as not to contaminate the work He is working on. 

This was such a simple concept, but my mind dwelt on the fact for weeks. God is far better than I am. If I require the outside to be clean, don’t you think God requires those He uses to be clean on the inside and outside. There are so many people who can be hurt, deceived, and lead the wrong way -- contaminated -- if God’s people are not clean on the outside.

God’s ladies should not look like the world on the outside.

God’s ladies should be beautiful and desirable on the inside and on the outside. A lady who loves the Lord should ask Him, “Lord, does what I look like on the outside please you?” and “Lord, help my thoughts, desires, and actions bring glory to you.”

Can people see Christ in you?