Have you heard about the man who took his old car to a dealer and asked him to sell it for him? When the dealer asked how many miles were on it, the man replied, “It’s got 230,000.” The salesman replied, “It’ll never sell unless you turn back the mileage.” So the man left.

When the car salesman hadn’t heard from the man for several weeks, he called him. “I thought you were going to sell that old car.”

“I don’t have to anymore,” came the reply. “It’s only got 77,000 miles on it now. Why should I sell it?”

This story illustrates a spiritual truth. Too many people today are only fooling themselves if they think they’re pleasing God by just changing their external behavior. What they need is a new heart.

The old car still had a sick engine, bad rings, and a transmission that slipped. Turning back its odometer had not changed that! In the same way, people who try to please God by living a good life without first trusting in Christ are like the Pharisees who were clean on the outside but still filthy on the inside (Mt. 23:25).

Good works can’t change your heart. Only personal faith in Christ brings cleansing inside and out. Then your good works and righteous life will be pleasing to God.

  — David C. Egner