“After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 7:14-16).
The sin in the world is not what defiles us. Taking the sin within is what defiles us. This body was born in a world that is perishing. We will have a new body. What then? Focus upon what is good for the body and soul. Continue to grow in your character and live into the life for which You have been redeemed. How often do we focus on right behavior outwardly when who we are inwardly is what Christ will create in us by grace.
Lord, I have taken many things in. Protect me so that what comes in that would lead me away from You is rejected that I may continue along the path of Your salvation. Guide me in Your goodness and mercy to receive what You give and watch as it grows in me what You desire. Help me to not become a pharisee where I worry about outward appearance but make me whole from the inside out.
Lead me Lord Jesus in the way You know I need to go. Guide me in Your goodness to understand that You have come to save me from the inside out and prepare me to dwell with You eternally. According to the Father’s will, help me to not react only to all the things that are going on around me, but live according to the word You give me. Aid me so that I look to You as the One who will keep me from evil. Amen.
