Today's Bible reading is the 15th chapter of the Book of Matthew. You can read it here at Bible Gateway: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2015&version=NASB

It has certainly not been limited to the scribes and pharisees that we find Jesus speaking to in the beginning of today's text in Matthew. Until our present day men have had a tendency to put church traditions above what the word of God says about a host of matters. In doing so, perhaps we have also found ourselves, as Jesus had pointed out to these religious leaders, being hypocritical in our faith. The word of God should always supersede the traditions of men. May any of the “traditions” that Christian churches develop be founded in scripture.


The religious leaders had wanted to point out that Jesus' disciples had not ceremoniously washed their hands prior to the eating of bread. Discussing that which "defiled a man", Jesus taught that it wasn't the things that entered the mouth but the things that proceeded out from one's mouth. It is not the things that a person puts into his stomach through his mouth that defile a man but the things that he has put into his heart that become evident as they come out of his mouth. As I read today's passage I could not help but think about the days in which we live. Diet this and diet that, and this not just being something that the world is preoccupied with but the church as well. Certainly there is nothing wrong with having a desire for healthy living but I suppose there is often much more emphasis put on that which goes into the stomach than that which goes into the heart. May we seek to fill our hearts with the glorious person of Christ and may He be seen in the things that come forth from our mouths.