Daily Walk Through the New Testament May 30 Read Mark 7:14-37 Are you aware of what’s in your heart? The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). Jesus echoed this in Mark 7:1-23, teaching that defilement comes from within. The Pharisees professed to have righteous hearts, but Jesus, like a skilled physician reporting to a patient about an unfavorable x-ray, said their hearts were not healthy. He said their hearts were sick, even contaminated. More than that, their hearts were far from God and outright evil! That wasn’t a report they enjoyed receiving! You can be sure that any or all of the things listed in (vs. 21-22) are capable of rising up in our own hearts. But the Pharisees did not see the deadly enemy lurking within. Martin Luther once said, “I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the greatest pope, self.” Our self-righteousness will always condemn us. Human goodness will never be good enough. The heart must be under constant surveillance (Proverbs 4:23). We must daily ask Jesus to search and cleanse our hearts. We have His faithful promise that He will make our hearts clean: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Give the Lord praise for cleansing your heart. Ask Him to keep your heart close to Him. Pray for others that their hearts would be converted by Christ’s transforming power.
Recent Posts
Archives
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- May 2017
- December 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015