Cleaning Up Our Act
Matthew 23:1-12
Illustration

Billy Graham tells of meeting a well-known attorney on an airplane one day as he was flying to a speaking engagement. Dr. Graham observed that the man was drinking everything the stewardess would bring him in order to drown his pain. But it wasn't working. A conversation began. The man told Graham that he was a church member in good standing. He acknowledged, however, that he needed "to clean up his act." Deep in his heart he knew right from wrong and realized that he had to change his life. He said, "I would really like to serve God." Billy counseled with him about his need for salvation.

A few months later Dr. Graham received word that the man he had spoken with went back to his home church and asked if he could say a few words on a Sunday evening. The man admitted to the whole church what a hypocrite he had been. Then as he looked out over the congregation he said, "A lot of you are the same kind of hypocrite I've been. I've cleaned up my act and made my peace with God." Recently he has been giving his testimony in other churches.

Our lives should reflect what we teach. If our lives don't reflect what we teach then it's time to clean up our act and make peace with God. Jesus warned his followers not to be taken in by the religious officials whose lives did not reflect what they were teaching.

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