Daily Devotional for Monday, September 25

They Found Fault

“And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault,” Mark 7:2.

If any readers spend any time at all on social media, they will know it sometimes seems like the Annual Convention for Critics and Complainers. No matter what one person says, another will have some aimless criticism of it. If you were to post on Facebook that you were giving away five dollar bills, somebody would show up and tell you that because you are not giving away ten dollar bills, clearly you hate puppies. It is a real problem. Sadly, this is even a problem with Christian posts. Many come around just to offer a correction on things that, frankly, are not that important, and many of which are not even biblical but based on traditions. Unfortunately, this even happens in our churches.

Tradition and God’s Word are not equals. While some traditions may be rooted in God’s Word, some are just things we happen to like. There is nothing wrong with traditions, so long as we do not get them mixed up with what matters. That is what the Pharisees were doing, as they always did. They were fixated on dirty hands when their problem was dirty hearts. They had stopped believing with their hearts in God and believing in themselves to earn God’s grace. There is nothing new here. The single biggest religion in the world is the religion of meritbased salvation. It comes in many forms, all of them heresy. 

To be acceptable to God, you must be clean on the inside. You can scrub your outside with good works all day long, and your heart will remain impure. You need a regenerated heart, and Jesus can give it to you. Once He cleans the inside, then the work on the outside can begin.

JUST A THOUGHT: Are you a new creation, or a whitewashed sepulcher?

Wally Fry