by: Allen Domelle
Deuteronomy 10:16
“Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.”
Going through the home purchasing process is very difficult for the buyer in that they want to be sure that they are getting the right home. Once the real estate agent gives some addresses that they think you should look at, you begin to go out and drive by the houses on you own just to see which ones interest you. The curb appeal of the home is essential to get you interested enough just to be willing to look at the house. If the outside of the house is rundown or in disrepair, and the yard is not kept up, the curb appeal alone will make most mark that house of their list of potential homes. Most will never see what the inside looks like if the curb appeal isn’t inviting enough to draw them in.
If the curb appeal is inviting, you mark that house as a potential house which you would want to see. Once you enter the house with curb appeal, you expect the inside to be as attractive and beautiful as the outside. It is disheartening to see a house with great curb appeal where the inside of the house is outdated or in disrepair. If the inside doesn’t match the curb appeal, most will move on to another house. If a person wants their house to sell, they need to be sure that both the curb appeal and the inside are kept and attractive.
In the verse above, God was showing His people that curb appeal alone wasn’t what He wanted. God commanded every male to be circumcised, but He goes further in the verse above by commanding them to “Circumcise…the foreskin of your heart.” God wanted the heart of His people to match what they performed on the outside.
The curb appeal of the Christian is very important. Sadly, we live in times when many have downplayed the importance of the curb appeal. People should be able to look at the outside of a person and know they are a Christian. Your outside does matter to God, and it also matters to your testimony to those who are lost. If your curb appeal looks like the world, you will rarely be able to have the influence to reach the lost with the Gospel.
However, what you are like on the inside is just as important to God. You can have great curb appeal spiritually, but if what you are like on the inside doesn’t match your spiritual curb appeal on the outside, your ability to influence people for right will be greatly diminished. You can dress right, have the right haircut and look like a Christian, but if on the inside you have a bad attitude and carry bitterness about adverse circumstances from the past, you will not be able to help those whom God brings across your path. I know that curb appeal typically defines the outside, but what does your inner curb appeal look like? Does the inner you match your outer curb appeal? If you want to have an influence on others it better.
If your Christianity was a house, are you marketable? Does your curb appeal cause others to want what you have? More importantly, when others get to know you, do they still want what you have? Certainly, Christians need to be sure their curb appeal looks like a Christian and not the world, but they also need to be sure when others begin to know you personally that your inner curb appeal is just as inviting. When your inner and outer curb appeal are attractive to others, it is then that you will be able to provoke others to want what the LORD is doing through you.