Concerning The Source of Defilement

Bible Passage: Matt 15:1-20, Mark 7:1-23

 

After today’s bible reading,

The question lingered in my mind—

“Are you pretending?”

Pretending to be what I thought….

 

Do you pretend to have a close relationship with God,

By attending church service regularly?

However you do not daily live to please God,

Instead you worship God as if a mere formality.

 

Do you pretend to be a good RE teacher,

By putting on a good show that all the kids adore you?

Yet you do not practice what you teach whether

It is your own lesson or a fellow co-worker’s.

 

Do you pretend to a be a good hymnal leader,

By joining the choir and singing joyfully in front of the congregation?

Yet you sing secular songs with greater passion and louder,

And your iTunes or mp3 is filled with worldly music.

 

Do you pretend to be a fervent leader in church,

By being organised and diligently serving in the good works?

Yet you desire to follow worldly trends and you lurch,

Ignorantly and unintentionally you cause others to stumble.

 

Do you pretend to be a very religious person in front of others,

By praying and reading the Bible every day?

However when nobody is around not your mother, brother or lover,

You indulge in your bad habit(s) whatever it may be.

 

Do you worship God with your lips and your act,

By carrying on with daily routines and formalities every week?

You forget the meaning of the very fact,

That all you do now will be taken into account above.

 

Stop pretending.

 

God looks at the sincerity of our heart;

A genuine desire to obey Him with our lives.

If we continue to have a mediocre faith on our part,

We will lose sight of Him or become distant from God.

 

If we continue worshipping God with our lips and our act,

We worship God in vain.

The promise, the new covenant, the very pact

Christ signed with His own blood is made void.

 

 Always keep a pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith.

Do not deceive ourselves with some outward observance.

Constantly be aware of our spiritual conditions,

And see if we are obeying God’s commandments from the heart.

 

What should we examine ourselves about and repent of when we pray?

 

For reference, I found the following table easy to study and very applicable: 

 

Teachings/Traditions of Men	Teachings/Commandments of God
ð        Perform ceremonial washing before eating (Mk 7:3-4).	Evil from your heart makes you unclean (Mk 7:20-23).
ð        Corban is inviolable; dedicated money cannot be used for other purposes such as supporting your parents (Mk 7:11).	Honor your father and mother (Ex 20:12). Do not curse your father or mother (Deut 5:16).
ð        Announce charitable works with trumpets (Mt 6:2).	Give to the needy in secret (Mt 6:3-4).
ð        Disfigure your faces to show that you are fasting (Mt 6:16).	Do not let it be obvious that you are fasting (Mt 6:17-18).
ð        Seek honor at public places (Mt 23:5-7).	You are all brothers (Mt 23:8). The greatest among you will be your servant (Mt 23:11). Whoever exalts himself will be humbled (Mt 23:12).
ð        Lengthy prayers in public (Mt 6:5, 23:14).	When you pray, go into your room and close the door (Mt 6:6). Do not be hypocrites (Mt 23:14).
ð        If anyone swears by the gold in the temple, he is bound by his oath (Mt 23:16). If anyone swears by the gifts on the altar, he is bound by his oath (Mt 23:18).	If you swear by anything, you swear by God Himself (Mt 23:20-22). We have no authority to swear by (Mt 5:33-36). Do not swear. Let your “Yes” be yes and your “No,” no. (Mt 5:37, Jas 5:12).
ð        Offer tithes (Mt 23:23).	Practice justice, mercy, and faithfulness, without neglecting the tithes (Mt 23:23). To obey is better than sacrifice (1 Sam 15:22).
ð        Clean your cups and dishes (Mt 23:25, Mk 7:4).	Clean the greed and self-indulgence from inside you (Mt 23:26).
ð        Build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous (Mt 23:29).	You are being condemned to hell for shedding righteous blood (Mt 23:33-35).
ð        Count your righteousness before God (Lk 18:11).	Ask God to have mercy on you, a sinner (Lk 18:13). Whoever exalts himself will be humbled (Lk 18:14).

Source: True Jesus Church-Bible Study Guide: Mark

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