Friday, March 8, 2024
Jesus Teaches About Purity Matthew 15: 1-20
Part 1: Matthew 15: 1-9
Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[a] and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[b] 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.”
REFLECTION:
I want to practice Jesus teachings, but it is difficult to dismiss what others do. It is challenging not to do things for the praise of man. Everyone wants some appreciation, but I know I shouldn’t put that above my obedience to you. I know if I practice your way, it is what’s best for me and most of all what is best for building the kingdom.
APPLICATION:
It continues to be the same, I must examine my motives. Why am I really doing what I am doing? If I find that it is for selfish or vain reasons, I must confess it to you and pray to you and pray for a right heart.
PRAYER:
Lord, I thank you for an opportunity to get this right and ask that you help me to be better each day, each hour each second of my life. I cannot do it on my own so I ask that you help me God to walk in your light and in your way. Amen