“Summoning the crowd, He told them,
“Listen and understand:
It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
Then the disciples came up and told Him,
"Do You know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard this statement? ”
He replied,
“Every plant that My heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. Leave them alone! They are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
Then Peter replied to Him,
“Explain this parable to us.”
“Are even you still lacking in understanding? ”
He asked.
“Don’t you realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a man. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies. These are the things that defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
Matthew 15:10-20
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Jesus is talking about a person's actions in two different ways. One is the action seen by what one does, the other is the action born of what one thinks. The former is merely external behavior while the latter stems from what's inside.
So, what is Jesus saying here? How can we know what our hearts are like? By our actions or by our thoughts? According to this passage it will be by our thoughts.
This is always unpleasant at first because the lips can lie, but the thoughts speak the ugly truth. There's something about the veil of thoughts that make them appear harmless, but Jesus blatantly speaks of what we think as being what we truly are. So, in order to see ourselves more clearly we must examine our thoughts before we examine our actions.
Knowing what is really in our hearts will allow us to then bring our filth to God for Him to cleanse by the washing of the Word.
What are you thinking today?
Now, bring those thoughts to God and let Him wash you in the water of His Word.
Jmegrey
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