"Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.'"
When Pharisees asked Jesus about why He was letting His disciples eat without washing their hands, He responded with this. Jesus looked at the Pharisees and told them that nothing of this earth that God made could make them unclean. Things that are eaten pass through the body. But what does make a man unclean are his sins. The heart is the source of all of these sins because it is the source of our emotions and desires. All people have different desires depending on what is around them and what they are focused on. An example is that two people could be in a mall. One sees all the stores and wants to buy something, the other sees the food court and wants to go buy food. Someone who's very wealthy might want to remodel their pool. A poor child might just want to taste a piece of candy. We all desire different things at different times. The heart causes these desires. Are all desires good or bad? Well, it depends on what it is your heart is focused on. Matthew 6:21 says,
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Meaning, the things on which you place value, are the things you're going to desire. Jesus makes it clear that man's heart lies in this world. Wrong thoughts, lust, anger, lying, cheating, stealing, hurtful words; these are all the modern day terms for what Jesus listed in the verses above. Our sins come from our hearts, and they come from our hearts because we put our hearts in the wrong places by finding value in the world. What is the solution to this? It's to place our value in Jesus. To surround ourselves with Him and make Him our treasure. But the thing I struggle with is how to know whether or not I have put my heart in Him or not. 1John 3:19,20 shows me this.
This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in His presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything.
So what does this mean? It means that we know that we have put our hearts in Jesus because of the condemning guilt we feel when we sin. When you are thirsty, you know you are thirsty because your body tells you with your dry tongue. So what happens when you throw a bunch of salt in your mouth? Your body yells at you and you feel really uncomfortable and in pain. In the same way, when we put more value in Jesus we desire more of Him. If we go and sin, then we are growing further away from Him, and our hearts condemn us because it wants more of Him. God is greater than our hearts. This means that He is stronger than the earthly desires that plague us and He takes over our hearts. I said in a post a while back that God does not share room with our sins. He either leaves, or kicks out the sin. What He does, depends on what we're willing to let Him do with our hearts. If we choose to stay comfy, then He'll leave us be with our sins. But if we truly pick Him and make Him what matters, He takes over. When that happens, He overpowers us and no matter what our body or emotions try to say, He makes us choose Him more and more. But this isn't a complete 100% change in our desires. We still find ourselves picking the world over Him from time to time. So what does that mean? It means that in those moments, we're not choosing God, and we're making other things more important. In short, we're sinning. This is where His Grace and forgiveness are needed. Because we are incapable of not choosing God 100% of the time by giving Him every second of every day of our lives, we need forgiveness. That is why Lord Jesus came down to die for us. To take away our sins, and to bring us closer to God, by taking up residence in our hearts. Because of this, we are able to feel His Holy Spirit move in a us and bring us closer to Him, and further away from this world.
I have personally found that the closer I get to God and the more value I put in Him, the more guilt I feel and the more sins I become aware of. It is a curse because of how much sin I feel bearing down on my shoulders, but at the same time it's even more of a blessing because of how much more free I feel when the weight is taken off by His Grace. In short: The things we value are the things we put our hearts in. The things we put our hearts in are the things we end up desiring. And the things things we desire determine how we act. So, again I'll ask what God asked me, "What do you value?"
Thank You For Reading
Long Live Jesus Christ
Amen
Long Live Jesus Christ
Amen
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