Re:Verse reading – Mark 7:1-23 (day four)
It is so easy for us to look for someone else to blame for our shortcomings (better interpreted as sins). The scribes and Pharisees had come up with all kinds of laws and traditions to avoid having to be obedient to God’s laws. Jesus discerned their true motives and pointed out the reality of their hypocrisy. It is what comes out of you…your heart…that defiles you! We find the same excuses. It is the people I am around, the culture I have grown up in, the circumstances of my life that have affected my decisions. Jesus says, “Wrong!”
The evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness…these come from our sinful hearts! Have you ever thought—‘I’ve done pretty good lately and don’t really have any sins to confess’? Maybe you have, but a lot of darkness hides in our hearts. Ask God to continually search your heart and see if there is any wicked way. He can clean it!
