Feb 24 - The Heart Defiles The Body

Now we talk about lovely discharges from the body and specific purification periods and of coarse more blood. The Lord speaks to Moses after the death of Aaron's two sons, who died after they entered the Lord's presence and burned the wrong kind of fire before him. The Lord said to Moses, "Warn your bother, Aaron, not to enter the Most Holy Place behind the inner curtain whenever he chooses; if he does, he will die. For the Arks cover-the place of atonement-is there, and I myself am present in the cloud above the atonement cover."

Today in Mark, Jesus has a mini-snap at the Pharisees and teachers of religious law. They ask him :Why don't your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony." Jesus replies "You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you , for he wrote, 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.' For you ignore God's law and substitute your own tradition." He hits them with a parable about showing how they cancel the word of God in order to hand down their own tradition. Jesus calls to the crowd "All of you listen and try to understand. It's not what goes into your body the defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart."

Jesus explains to his disciples in private "Can't you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? Food doesn't go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and goes into the sewer (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God's eyes....Bring on the BACON!) "It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desire, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you."

Can't you feel it when you do something knuckleheaded.....Just remember this.... Matthew 6:33 "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." God's got your back you just have to remember to lean on Him and diligently seek his guidance......That's the way I see it.......