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And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)  And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.  For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” – Mark 7:18-23

For millennia people have sought ways to be ceremonially pure. Their conscience has burned and caused distress because they know that they do not match up with the Divine ideal.  God, through The Law of Moses, helped them to search out this tendency – and find that mankind is incapable of attaining purity by elimination of externals.  The Lord spoke to His people and told them that He was fed up with their ceremonies and celebrations and fasts – that He wanted a people who sought after justice and mercy rather than being obsesses with sacrifices.

The key to all this?  Man is not defiled by that which he eats or drinks, he is defiled by that which comes out from within him.  When his thoughts lead him to do that which is against God’s nature – that is what defiles him.  Even today people search ways to eliminate externals.  “If there is no opportunity to sin there will be no sin” is the rationale.  But sin does not come from opportunity, it comes from desire.

Mankind finds it easier to ban things than to teach right thinking.  It is when we think properly that we live properly.  Two different people can pass through identical situations.  One will sin, the other will not.  Why?  Because one has not allowed that particular set of stimuli to become an influence in their mind but the other person did.  Objects and substances are not in and of themselves “sinful” or “evil”.  Objects and substances are essentially neutral.  They require an active agent in order to perform any task.  That is why a knife in one hand will take a life, but in another hand will save a life.  That is why a certain plant in one hand is medicine which treats certain medical problems whil in another hand it becomes an all encompassing search for fleeting pleasure that over time becomes a haunting need that destroys. So what is evil?  It is not the substance or the object – they will not move nor act unless they are caused to act by a force outside themselves – it is the mind, the way of thinking of the individual that chooses to use them – or not.

That is why the apostle Paul wrote, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. “ – Romans 12:1-2 Our “spiritual worship” therefore is to live according to God’s will, not our own.  It is a matter of learning to think like God thinks, to prioritize life like He does.  It means focusing less on our desires and whims in order to focus on His directives, guidance and Will.

That which defiles us comes from within.  BUT we CAN change with the help of the Holy Spirit so that we no longer desire to live in sin but according to God’s plan for our lives.  Sometimes we have to separate ourselves from externals in order to put our selves in order on the inside.  But it is not because the externals in and of themselves are evil and wrong, but rather because we have given them a place in our life that does not correspond to their proper place. Living holy before God is a matter of changing our minds, because that is what will change our actions and bring us into compliance with His plan for us and His church.

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