Tuesday Reading: Mark 7:14-16
Key Verse: Mark 7:15
15 There is nothing from outside a man which entering into him can defile him. But the things which come out of him, those are the ones that defile the man.
Devotion:
There are arguments all the time about whether it is wrong to watch films that portray violence etc and the argument will continue to go on for a very long time; what we have to remember is that it is not what comes in but what we do with what comes in... There have been many studies to confirm that we do not always seem to have full control over what we do with what comes in though. Subliminal messages have been proven to change people’s minds simply by showing them things they are not aware of and that is exactly the sort of thing we do have to watch out for.
It is not the fact that we are watching movies or consuming strange foods but the fact that we then go on to think about those things afterwards. What comes in does not defile us, but what we then think about afterwards is what is going to give us the problems! The obvious thing is to limit what comes in so that we do have some control over what our minds get up to. That is then the point of conflict for many because they still want to be able to let their minds loose on many things...
There is sound doctrine that we do need to focus on and that is the doctrine that we read in God’s Word. That we do have to take care of and we do need to think about it too. If we flood ourselves full of other garbage all the time and do not spend time filling ourselves with the gospel then we should not be surprised when we find ourselves thinking about all the other things that we watch and do rather than what God would have us to think and do! It’s all about balancing your intake, much like balancing your diet – too much garbage and watch the waistline go out the window! Just like we need our regular fruit and veg. We need our regular intake of the gospel too!
Points to Ponder:
Are you thinking of dieting?
Are you including your gospel intake?
