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Mark 7:17-23
As Jesus leaves the multitude to ponder over a statement that He has commanded them to “hear” and “understand” (Mark 7:14-16, NKJV), He retreats to a house away from the crowd where His disciples ask Him about the meaning of the parable (Mark 7:17). Jesus explains the parable to them in Mark 7:18-23 declaring, “Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, 19because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” 20And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
This is a promise that the heart of a person is the location of that person’s true identity.
Jesus came to help us all find our true identity, and in that, to see that our true identity has some, if not many flaws that need, and can be healed – that our hearts are in need of healing, and that He is the ultimate healer; not just of physical issues but of issues that are not physically seen except in the effects of the condition of our hearts – things such as Jesus explains in Mark 7:21-23, “21For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
The scientific worldview has trouble believing in God because science deals with the physical proof of things and not of things that cannot be seen, such as faith and believing in a God that is spiritual. But I challenge everyone who believes this way to consider things such as evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness which are born in the heart of a person and cannot be physically seen, yet we know they exist and are only physically visible in their results after they have been born and then grew into an action by a person. It is the results of these things that are only visible to the eye.
I now challenge you to consider God, His Holy Spirit, and His Son Jesus; the three-in-One God of heaven whom we cannot physically see but can physically see the results of His action in the life of one who will believe in Him and accept Him into their heart. The physical change in a person’s life that has opened their heart to Jesus and received His Holy Spirit to live within their heart as a gift from God, not earned by that person but freely received as a gift, is an undeniable change that is physically seen by others and is felt and experienced by that person as a new life in Christ Jesus. God is real, and as this Bible study will be launched in the midst of the Christmas season, God wants to give you a gift of salvation in His One and only Son Jesus – if you will believe in Him and allow Him to change your heart. We give gifts at Christmas to each other as an expression of the gifts that were given to Jesus as His birth was celebrated. Will you accept Jesus into your heart today and experience a new life – in Christ as He begins to heal your heart from all the unseen evils that Jesus has mentioned in Mark 7:18-23? Jesus said to the one we know as “Doubting Thomas” in John 20:29, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Dear LORD,
We have to make what we like to call “the leap of faith” to believe in Your great saving gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus for all who will believe. We cannot see faith, hope, and love; but we know they exist because we feel them working in our lives and see them working in the lives of others around us. We can physically see the results of faith, hope, and love. Please help us to believe that You can cleanse our hearts of the evils spoken of in Mark 7:18-23 that we too would open our hearts to You LORD and believe in the Christmas gift of our Savior Jesus whom You sent into this world as the physical representation of Yourself to save the world from sin (John 3:16-17). In Jesus name I pray salvation in Christ Jesus for all, amen.