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Friday, April 25, 2008
Ritually Clean?
Some Pharisees and some teachers of the law came from
Jerusalem. They gathered around Jesus. The Pharisees and
teachers of the law saw that some of Jesus' followers ate
food with hands that were not clean. ("Not clean" means that
they did not wash their hands {in the way the Pharisees said
people must}.) The Pharisees and all the Jews never eat
before washing their hands in this special way. They do this
to follow the teaching given to them by their great people
that lived before them. And when the Jews buy something in
the market, they never eat it until they wash it in a special
way. They also follow other rules from their people that
lived before them. They follow rules like the washing of
cups, pitchers, and pots. The Pharisees and teachers of the
law said to Jesus, "Your followers don't follow the rules
given to us by our great people that lived before us. Your
followers eat their food with hands that are not clean. Why
do they do this?"
-- Mark 7:1-5 (ERV)
KEY THOUGHT:
Wouldn't it be nice if we could be spiritually clean simply by being
physically and ritually clean? Unfortunately, we can't. Only God can
make us truly clean. So while observing local customs about cleanliness
can be helpful in winning our acceptance by others, only Jesus can win
their hearts for God. Unfortunately, many folks simply take the
physical shortcut hoping to achieve spiritual goals but come up empty
because they have not fully submitted themselves to God.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
O LORD, only you can make me clean. Please cleanse me -- don't just
forgive me, but make me new, dear Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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>> The WJD! web page has related scriptures and the
>> full text of today's key passage. Read it at:
http://www.heartlight.org/wjd/mark/0425-wjd.html
>> For further study of today's passage, use our
>> online Bible study site: SearchGodsWord.org!
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Mark+7:1-5&sr=1&t=erv
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