Worse Than Before

Matthew 12:43-45

"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it find the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of the man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation" (Matthew 12:43,44).

Here's a brief history of Israel:

In the desert: whiners
During the time of the judges: frequently unfaithful.
During the time of the kings: abandoned to unfaithfulness (with occasional reprieves of genuine revival)

The Pharisees and teachers of the law could feel rightfully satisfied. They were not
like their fathers--they did not worship false gods. They had learned--they had cleaned up their house. They had cleaned up the house, but not filled it. They had straightened out their religion, but not sweetened it.

And Christ declared their state worse then any generation. From them we learn, that it's not enough to clean up our act. We can make breathtaking changes. We can move from alcoholism to sobriety and lust to purity, but if we don't move from selfishness to love we are worse than before.

I understand this movement of leaving behind obvious sins for worse sins. I may have matured out of an obvious sin like anger (I used to have a wicked temper), but then moved on to a worse sin like pride. Pride shows up in the most unusual and (at times) awkward places, like in my religious life. Many times God has woken me in the morning with a gentle, "You weren't really trying to serve me yesterday--you were serving yourself."
This can be frustrating. It's like playing whac-a-mole at Chucky Cheese. I keep trying to whack self down in one area of my life, but she comes up in other areas.

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57). There's my hope. I don't just clean up my house--I fill it with Christ.