Whitewashed

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness."  Matthew 23:27 (NIV)

Hypocrites! Jesus exposed the very people that should have been set apart for God. They looked good on the outside, they knew how to act the part. But the one who searches the hearts of men could see right through them and it wasn't pretty.  Could he be talking about us? Are we guilty of trying to appear better than we really are? Do we spend most of our time trying to make ourselves look good to others when the part of us that really matters, our heart, is "full of hypocrisy and wickedness"?  How can we expect God to answer our prayers for revival under such conditions? 1Samuel 16:7 says," man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." He is one person we can't fool!