Mark Reading Plan – W7D2
Week 7 | Day 2 | Mark 7:14-23
Pray
Thank God for something in your life and ask Him to speak to you through your reading and reflection today.
Bible Reading (read these verses three times slowly)
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.”
After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable.“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Reflection & Questions
Why are superstitions so attractive? You know: not changing socks game after game because they’re lucky? Or carrying around that rabbit’s foot? Perhaps it’s because there’s an illusion of control with superstitions.
In Jesus’ day, people believed that eating certain types of foods caused spiritual problems and they avoided them like the plague. However, Jesus makes it clear: physical things don’t cause spiritual problems. “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart that evil thoughts come…”
Why is this so important to realize? Because so often in life, if you’re going to truly solve a problem, it helps to know what caused the problem in the first place.
Dirty hearts won’t be fixed by clean food. Spiritual problems need a spiritual answer. We don’t have a food problem. We have a heart problem. We need clean hearts. Once we realize that, we’re heading in the right direction to finding the answer. The answer to dirty hearts is Jesus’ taking away our sin and giving us clean hearts!
- Are you trying to clean your heart through anything but Jesus?
Pray
Spend time confessing your sins to God and asking Him to cleanse your heart.
Worship Song
In response to today’s reading, you could use this song to worship Jesus:
Bible Reading
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.”
After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable.“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Reflection and Questions
Do you know what a good luck charm is? You know: not changing socks game after game because they’re lucky? Or carrying around a rabbit’s foot? Or a lucky penny that you found on the ground! Why do you think people have those? They know that there’s no magic in that penny, right? Maybe it’s because we want to feel a bit more in control of what happens with our good luck charms, or our superstitions.
Back in Jesus’ day, people believed that eating certain types of foods caused spiritual and religious problems, so they avoided eating those foods. However, Jesus makes it clear: physical things don’t cause spiritual problems. Things that you eat, are not what makes you a good or bad follower of Jesus!
Why is this so important to know? Because sometimes in life, if you’re going to solve a problem, it helps to know what caused the problem in the first place. And in this story, the problem is people not following God, but that wasn’t because of the food they were eating.
Dirty hearts won’t be fixed by clean food. Spiritual problems need a spiritual answer. We don’t have a food problem. We have a heart problem. We need clean hearts. And the only answer to dirty hearts is Jesus’ taking away our sin and giving us clean hearts!
- How is your heart? Have you decided to follow Jesus, and allowed Him to clean your heart?
Prayer
Pray thanking Jesus for cleaning our hearts for us, and loving us no matter what.
Bible Reading
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.”
After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable.“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Devo Focus
“What comes out of a person is what defiles them.” Vs. 20
Devo
Why are superstitions so attractive? You know: not changing socks game after game because they’re lucky? Or carrying around that rabbit’s foot? Perhaps it’s because there’s an illusion of control with superstitions. In Jesus’ day, people believed that eating certain types of foods caused spiritual problems and they avoided them like the plague. However, Jesus makes it clear: physical things don’t cause spiritual problems. “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart that evil thoughts come…” Why is this so important to realize? Because so often in life, if you’re going to truly solve a problem, it helps to know what caused the problem in the first place. Dirty hearts won’t be fixed by clean food. Spiritual problems need a spiritual answer. We don’t have a food problem. We have a heart problem. We need clean hearts. Once we realize that, we’re heading in the right direction to finding the answer. The answer to dirty hearts is Jesus’ taking away our sin and giving us clean hearts!
- Are you trying to clean your heart through anything but Jesus?
Prayer
Spend time confessing your sins to God and asking Him to cleanse your heart.
