What’s In Your Heart?
“Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man.” Matthew 15:17-18
Some folks believe that vulgarity, and I mean using foul language, particularly on a regular basis, means nothing other than their displeasure with whatever the subject matter is. Jesus would disagree. He did use words like “damnation” and “hell”, but not in a casual way to curse someone or something, but rather as a warning to folks that to be damned is the way to hell. He pointed out in Matthew 23:33, calling the religious leaders of His day, a “generation of vipers” because they were conniving hypocrites, and how can hypocrites “escape the damnation of hell”?
Some folks have a great deal of concern about the foods that they ingest. Now it is good to be health conscious and eat to live rather than live to eat, but it is not what we eat that defiles us, rather, it is the words that we speak that can defile us. There had been a conversation between Jesus and the religious leaders because they accused Jesus’ disciples of eating without washing their hands first. When Jesus made His remark about what really defiles a person, the disciples, still fearful of the religious leaders, were upset because these self-righteous men were offended at Jesus’ statement. He said to His disciples to not worry about those leaders because they were blinded by their own ignorance and prejudice. If the blind leads the blind, guess who falls into the ditch? Both of them. The disciples still didn’t understand what Jesus was trying to get across to them, so they asked Him to explain.
Sometimes Jesus had to speak to them on a level that they could understand. This was one of those times. He plainly told them that whatever one puts into his mouth, swallows, and digests is eliminated from the body when he goes to the bathroom. However, those words of criticism, judgment, and complaining which come out of one’s mouth originate in one’s heart, the thinking and reasoning ability of a person. Therefore, words that are spoken show what kind of person one is.
Today, even the most intellectual worldly authorities refuse to acknowledge that what a person permits to fester in his or her mind affects his or her behavior. We have definitely seen that truth being displayed in many of the colleges and universities as students and professors protest the nation of Israel and support their God-hating enemies. Wicked acts begin as wicked thoughts. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 23:7 that “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he”. What it boils down to is not just a hatred of Israel, but a hatred of God. The hearts of these young people have been so manipulated by men and women who hate God that they have influenced a generation of young men and women who desire for the destruction of Israel. Apparently, none of them have read the Old Testament account of the history of Israel. God told Abraham when He promised to make a great nation of his descendants that people who blessed this future great nation would be blessed, but those who cursed it, would be cursed. If only these young people could see their futures as those who are cursed by God. It is sad to see so many young people with such hate in their hearts. We must pray that God allows them to see the light of Christ.
Scripture makes it clear that man is born with a sinful heart (Romans 5:12). Therefore, nothing that enters from without makes the man sinful. He is sinful by virtue of being born that way. While it is a wise and physically healthy thing to do to wash our hands before we partake of a meal, eating with “unwashen hands” does not make man sinful, because it has no effect on the condition of man’s heart. What matters is now clean our heart is, and our hearts can only be cleansed by the shed blood of Jesus Christ who died on the cross to provide forgiveness and salvation to all who would repent and believe in Him: a simple, but profound truth which has been rejected by so many. Thank God for those who have seen the Light and have Christ within their hearts.