What's Inside

Keys for Kids - daily devotions and Bible stories for kids

Bible Reading: Psalm 51:6-10; Luke 11:37-41

"Mom, can we go home now? I'm sooo bored!" Stella slumped against the seat of the car.

"Stella, we're almost done--kids, look! A whole block sale!" Mom pulled the car over to the side of the road.

Hayden excitedly pressed his nose against the window. "I love yard sailing!"

The family got out of the car. Hayden ran straight to a model airplane. Stella stuck close to her mom as they looked at different mugs. Mom picked up one with a lid just as Hayden came running back. He and Stella both saw it at the same time, and the siblings gasped in unison.

"That is the prettiest mug I've ever seen!" Stella exclaimed.

"Mom, you have to get it!" Hayden said.

"All right, fine." Mom laughed and brought the mug to the cashier.

When the family arrived home, Stella asked, "Mom, can I please have the mug?"

Mom smiled. "No, but if you clean it, you can be the first to drink out of it!"

Stella's eyes sparkled. "Deal!" She ran excitedly to the sink. She opened the lid of the mug and immediately shut it. "Eww, it's all gross on the inside!"

Mom came over and peered at the mug. "Kids, this is a perfect example of what I read during my devotions today! In the book of Matthew, Jesus told the Pharisees to first clean the inside of the cup, and then the outside will also be clean. What do you think that verse actually means?"

Stella wrinkled her nose in thought. "Oh, I know! God wants what we look like on the inside to matter more to us than our outward appearance."

Hayden's eyes widened. "God wants us to clean our insides?"

Stella smirked. "No, silly. God sees our hearts, and that's what matters to Him."

"Oh, I get it now!" said Hayden. "We need to let Jesus make us clean."

"You got it," said Mom. "When we trust Jesus as our Savior, He cleans our sin away and pours His love into our hearts. Then our outward actions will make His love visible to others." She smiled. "Now, who wants some hot chocolate to go in that mug?"

–Summer Coleman

How About You?
Are you more concerned with your outward appearance and how others see you than with God and how He sees your heart? What's on the inside matters more because when we truly have a clean heart, it shows in the way we act and speak. How do you get a clean heart? By trusting in Jesus. (To learn more, click the "Good News!" button in the right column of this page or go to www.keysforkids.org/goodnews.) When you have His love in your heart, others will see it in how you treat them.
Today's Key Verse:
First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will also be clean. (NKJV) (Matthew 23:26)
Today's Key Thought:
What's inside is most important