Thought for August 5, 2024

  •  1305: William Wallace captured by the British
  • 1861: First personal income tax imposed-3% on earning over $800
  • 1864: Battle of Mobile Bay--David Farragut says, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead"
  • 1884: Cornerstone of Statue of Liberty is laid
  • 1914: First electric traffic light in USA installed in Cleveland
  • 1936: Jesse Owens wins his third gold medal--200 meters in a world record time
  • 1957: American Bandstand premiers on network TV
  • Born: Guy de Maupassant, Neil Armstrong, Marine Le Pen, Maureen McCormick, Herb Brooks [Miracle on Ice], Patrick Ewing, Joseph Merrick [Elephant Man]
  • Died: Fredrich Engels, Richard Burton, Alec Guinness, Toni Morrison
Thought:
Join me in reading Mark 7:14-23 today. I am focused on verses 20-23. These verses make me consider how I look at those things that defile me and others. Now honestly, I do not use the word "defile" often. The dictionary defines the word to mean spoil, impair, debase, pollute, poison, desecrate, profane, or make impure. Recall that this chapter begins with Pharisees accusing the disciples of eating with impure hands [7:2]. Beginning in verse 14, Jesus answers the question of what defiles man--what make me impure and unclean. What poisons me? Jesus is talking to Pharisees who gave the outward appearance of holiness--careful what they ate, what they drank, how they washed their bodies, how they avoided things they deemed unclean. Jesus will later call them white washed tombs---clean on the outside, dead on the inside. 

Maybe the answer is that what poisons me is my own evil heart. Jesus says a heart of flesh produces evil thoughts--these lead to fornication, theft, murder, adultery. It all begins in the heart. This convicts me. Do I spend all my time trying to look good, say the right things, eat and drink the right things, be seen in the right places and at the right events. Or do I devote my time to being good---cultivating the fruit of the Spirit. Have you or have you known someone who had a heart procedure. Maybe clearing blockages, creating bypasses, or maybe a heart transplant. These folks tell me that they felt an immediate difference--mind worked better, more energy. Perhaps what I need is a heart bypass or a transplant. Maybe my heart has hardened or maybe it has become clogged with fleshly things. I bet this is what David was thinking about in Psalm 51:10-12--create in me a clean heart o Lord. Maybe that should be my prayer for today. With a clean heart, my life will produce fruit suitable for the King. 

Blessings
Larry

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