ESOCS Devotional 2 May 2023
MEMORY VERSE: “For from within, out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders.”Mark 7:21
TEXT: MARK 7:14-23
14 And He called the people to [Him] again and said to them, Listen to Me, all of you, and understand [what I say].
15 There is not [even] one thing outside a man which by going into him can pollute and defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him and make him unhallowed and unclean.
16 If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening [and let him perceive and comprehend by hearing].
17 And when He had left the crowd and had gone into the house, His disciples began asking Him about the parable.
18 And He said to them, Then are you also unintelligent and dull and without understanding? Do you not discern and see that whatever goes into a man from the outside cannot make him unhallowed or unclean,
19 Since it does not reach and enter his heart but [only his] digestive tract, and so passes on [into the place designed to receive waste]? Thus He was making and declaring all foods [ceremonially] clean [that is, abolishing the ceremonial distinctions of the Levitical Law].
20 And He said, What comes out of a man is what makes a man unclean and renders [him] unhallowed.
21 For from within, [that is] out of the hearts of men, come base and wicked thoughts, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, adultery,
22 Coveting (a greedy desire to have more wealth), dangerous anddestructive wickedness, deceit; unrestrained (indecent) conduct; an evil eye (envy), slander (evil speaking, malicious misrepresentation, abusiveness), pride (the sin of an uplifted heart against God and man), foolishness (folly, lack of sense, recklessness, thoughtlessness).
23 All these evil [purposes and desires] come from within, and they make the man unclean and render him unhallowed.
Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
God has made us what we are as human beings. Two major containers we have as human beings are identified in our text. The first is the stomach. We eat and drink through the mouth and it proceeds to the stomach from where it is processed and through the blood via the veins all parts of our body get what they require to get nourished. The waste product is excreted through the anus. The second container is the heart. It is the centre of all emotions, thoughts, motives, etc from where actions and inactions are determined. We act and say what is determined in our hearts.
It follows therefore that we should be mindful of the information we get and the conclusions we reach in our hearts. The best thing to do is to hearken unto the word of God and understand it. If you have an understanding of what the word of God says in every situation, you will be able to reject evil thoughts and refuse to say and do things that will set you against God. If the source of water is dirty, the water drawn from it must certainly be bad. So, it is with human life. The understanding we have determines what we manifest. The same way men will reject to drink bad water is the same way God will refuse to fellowship with a man whose heart is not pure.
We, therefore, have to purge our hearts through confession of our identified sins and repent from them (Ps. 51:1-3). God does not despise those who come to Him with a repentant heart. This is the truth about our relationship with God. In verse 16 of our text, Jesus warned, “If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.”
- How do you determine a godly man? From what he eats or from what he says and does?
- Father, purge my heart from every sinfulness, that my life and words will reflect the knowledge and fear of God, in Jesus name. Amen.
FURTHER READING: Exodus 14: 21-end, 2 Kings 7:3-end, Rom 4:13-end
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ESOCS Devotional 2 May 2023
