VERSE: Matthew 15:10-20
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’” 12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?” 13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean.’ 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’
DEVOTION:
At the time that Jesus spoke these words, there were laws and traditions that determined whether you were holy (clean) enough to participate in religious ceremonies. A number of these laws were around food and what you ate. Pork was not allowed to be eaten. Also the Pharisees emphasized ceremonial washing of the hands before eating. By following their laws and traditions, they considered themselves to be clean in front of God.
However Jesus turned this on its head. He said that it is not the type of food or the lack of hand washing that makes you unclean or not holy before God but it is your unpure and unclean thoughts which come from your heart.
Who of us can stand before God and say, “All my thoughts are clean.” You might look at this list of evil thoughts and say that you are OK for most of them. But the bar is higher than it looks. You may remember back to Matthew 5:21-22 where Jesus said about “thou shall not murder” that “anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment” and anyone who says “you fool will be in danger of the fire of hell.” What makes us unclean are our evil thoughts.
How can be possibly become clean before God with all these thoughts running around in our heads? It can only be Jesus! He died for our sins. This includes our impure thought life. We can only come before a holy God through acceptance of what Jesus did for us. Not from abstaining from pork. Jesus is the only way because we cannot do it ourselves. As we accept him more and more into our lives and hearts, our thoughts will begin to change. Not all at once but over time as we meditate on his word and let him work in our lives. Over time we begin to let go of the negative thoughts we have of others and start to see them as God sees them.
I hope this scripture helps you see your need for Jesus today. I know it does for me.
PRAYER
Jesus, we need you today and every day. Continue to reveal truth to us that will change our thoughts and hearts to be more like you.
Author: Brad Dunn
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