WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011
“Again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, ‘Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.’” Mark 7:14-15
READ
In these verses, Jesus talks about one of the most important aspects of religious tradition from His culture. In His time, the Jewish people were nearly obsessed with ceremonial washings and food regulations. This was not simply the fact that they washed their hands and pitchers but it was the ceremony that attended it. For example, when a Jewish man woke up in the morning, it was expected that he would wash his hands by pouring a large cup of water over each hand three times, alternating each hand. These washings were done for almost every occasion and they believed that this represented the purity of the individual.
Jesus attacks the core of this cultural view of purity (that it is done to the outside of a person). He says that, ‘Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.’ The obvious example of clean food entering the mouth and unclean ‘waste’ exiting the body would not have been lost on the individuals present. The point is clear. What we take in doesn’t make us impure, but what we say, do and hold in our heart is what will make us impure.
PREPARE
- Praise God for who He is
- Confess your sinfulness and need for cleansing
- Allow His Spirit to draw you near
- Listen as He speaks to you
PRAY
- Pray that God helps us understand purity
- Pray that God helps us to live pure lives
TRUST
- Thank God for hearing you
- Trust that God is at work to accomplish His will
FOLLOW
What’s happening around us?
In 1984, a group of concerned caregivers banded together to create a voice for those living with dementia in our community. It was through the extraordinary efforts of these dedicated volunteers that the Alzheimer Society of Kitchener-Waterloo was founded. Volunteers are needed in many different capacities – both long and short term, for general and specific activities. You can help by volunteering as a companion for a person affected by Alzheimer’s, by helping out at special events, in the office or volunteering for a board position, participating in the annual “Walk/Skate for Memories” or otherwise raising funds or by helping to create “touch quilts.”
http://www.alzheimerkw.com