Smack in the Face, From Jesus

I've been reading in Mark lately and today was chapter 7. This is a chapter that I've most likely read several times, but I never remember being this impacted by it. Sooooo......I thought I'd share it with you.

So quick background on the part that hit me! The pharisees see the disciples eating without washing their hands first, so the pharisees freak out over it. It was tradition to wash your hands, it's just what you do. So when the disciples didn't do this. They asked Jesus "Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders but eat bread with unwashed hands?" So then Jesus fires back with this: "Well did Isaiah prophecy of you hypocrites...The people honor me with their lips but their heart is far from me. In vain they worship me, teaching as doctrine of men" So pretty much they pharisees were freaking out because the disciples didn't follow a tradition. Then Jesus hits back by pointing out how they follow traditions but they don't have the heart attitude of worship. Jesus later goes on to say "nothing from the outside can come in and defile a man. But what comes out of him is what is defiling" (paraphrase). So, what does this mean?

Whatever causes us to fall into sin, causes us to slip back into who we were, causes us to fall in temptation. Yup, that comes from YOUR inner self! Get that? Yup, when you fall in something, thats because it was in your heart! Intense, huh? I mean this can be affected by things. Time for an example! Lets say I watch a movie thats loaded with foul language, intense violence, sex scene after sex scene, etc. After the movie is done I feel an urge to use that language or doing something intensely violent or go engage in sex outside of marriage or any one of the many other less than honorable things in movies. So who/what is to blame for me falling into that sin? The movie? Or me? While I was impacted (negatively) by the movie, it is still my choice to do those things. So boom, I just "defiled", to use the words from NKJV, myself. It came from me, my own heart, my own free will.

Does this make sense? I hope so! When I read this it hit me! So maybe it hits you to, let me know!

~Joanna~

P.S. This relates to my journey to Africa because.....Jesus hit me with it and Jesus is calling me, so there! =)