As we continue our blog series of Take Off Your Mask , I am planning in the weeks ahead to address areas I believe the Lord wants us to remove the “mask” and be real with Him and with others. One of the most fake and, ultimately, the most divisive is the mask of religion. Religion will divide us, but faith will unite us!

When Yeshua was on earth, He spoke about the falseness of the outward appearance and encouraged us to focus on cleaning the inside (the heart), which would lead to a clean outside (actions), but in an honest and just way:

““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. 26

“You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.” Matt 23:25-26

We tend to dismiss what our Messiah said here because He spoke directly to the Scribes and Pharisees of His day. But the truth is that these words are just as relevant for us, His followers, today as they were over two thousand years ago! Yeshua was “calling out” the dishonest outwardly acts of the Scribes and Pharisees because they were hiding behind a mask of piety and religiosity, while the inside of the “cup” was dirty and rotted. He called them hypocrites because He could see into their hearts and their outward religious acts meant nothing.

My dear brothers and sisters, we live in a day and age where more and more followers of the Lord will fall away from the faith because they refuse to “get real” with Him, and allow Him to purify their hearts. The mask of religion will not be enough to keep us faithful to Him; you cannot be religious with God! As we move closer to the day of His return and closer to His holiness, not only will we become more aware of the filth around us, but also in our own lives.

We can fool ourselves and other men, but we can’t fool God. He knows where you are at in your journey; He sees the dark, hidden areas in your life and He wants to bring them to the light and heal you! He wants to restore you, but first you need to be honest and real with Him.

Let me encourage you to search your heart, to clean the inside, and to fear God more than you fear what others would say or think about you. We need to stop putting on an outwardly show, since it is God Himself who sees the inside. My hope for us all is that what others see on the outside is a true reflection of the inside, and a testimony of the healing work of the Lord in our lives.

Shabbat Shalom,

Moran