It comes from within

Mark 7:1-23

For the Pharisees and all of the Jews do not eat unless [merely for ceremonial reasons] they wash their hands [diligently up to the elbow] with clenched fist, adhering [carefully and faithfully] to the tradition of [practices and customs handed down to them by] their forefathers [to be observed]...

And [Jesus] said, What comes out of a man is what makes a man unclean and renders [him] unhallowed... All these evil [purposes and desires] come from within, and they make the man unclean and render him unhallowed.

We're reading a book by that name, by Andy Stanley. Actually I bought it and Al grabbed it and started reading it first. Here is that scripture-source -- evil comes from our hearts, from within.

It strikes me how "carefully and faithfully" the Pharisees were to follow their own traditions, and how careless and faithless they were about the things of God--the things He specifically laid out in His Law.

How am I different? In my house, I have a way to do things. A way to do the laundry, stack the dishes in the drainer, select foods at the supermarket. Now that I am working full time and Al has been trying to help me more, we talked about that, how I insist on my own way and how that discourages him to help me. Why can't I be just as eager to follow God's clear commands? Why do I insist on my own way?

It's because I think I am so smart, so right, so good. That is just what the Pharisees thought here. They thought they were so smart, so right, so good, that in fact, they totally missed the Messiah, the one their nation had been waiting for.

What am I totally missing?

Father, humble my heart to hear Your Word. Empower my heart to follow Your commands carefully and faithfully. For Your Word is truth and Your commands sweet life to my body. Let me not miss it. Let me see You clearly.