Scripture: Job 22; Mark 7-8
Mark 7:18-23
Jesus said, “Are you being willfully stupid? Don’t you see that what you swallow can’t contaminate you? It doesn’t enter your heart but your stomach, works its way through the intestines, and is finally flushed.” (That took care of dietary quibbling; Jesus was saying that all foods are fit to eat.)He went on: “It’s what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness—all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution.”
Observations: Mean looks and foolishness? Dang. Okay, so being a disciple means more than showing up on Sunday and putting my saved behind in a pew. So how do I stop these things?
Mark 8:34-36
Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self.
Looks like Jesus has the way to get all that done. I just have to follow.
Application: Lately I’ve been focusing on “Natural Church Development” and other modern church theories and some of the wisdom of those around me. I need to make sure that I’m listening to God and not the book of the month.
Prayer: Lead me Lord. Lead me in Your righteousness. Make Your way plain before my face. Amen.
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