"There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
If any man have ears to hear, let him hear."
Mark 7:15-16
Christ explained this to his disciples with the example of food coming into the body and going out again via normal bodily processes, not being able to touch the heart (verses 18-19), and that the things that come from our hearts are the things that lead us to sin, and are what defile us (verses 21-23).
That is a very good and important lesson, of course, but as I was thinking about it today, it seems to be saying even more than just a lesson about food vs thoughts, more about the way that we look at the world perhaps. We do blame food sometimes, but we often blame other things... or circumstance or other people for our faults or failings, and I think this is telling us to look to ourselves and our own choices before we blame any external factors for the way that our lives are going... including God. Yes, he is all powerful and he could snap his fingers and change things, but arguing that is missing the point that God placed us here and is teaching us for a reason... tailored individual education, with nothing asked of us that he doesn't give us the strength to cope with (though as Nephi and Moses and basically every other person throughout history can testify to, not always on the first try). If he snaps his fingers and saves us from everything, then he saves us from growth and also from eventual perfection, and that's not his plan.
He does save us instantly sometimes, but sometimes we need to learn the lesson... and part of the lesson here and elsewhere is that we're free to choose, and responsible for our choices, inasmuch as we understand what we are doing. Today, let's worry less about external influences and circumstances, and more about our own hearts and choices. Let's avoid defiling ourselves through our own actions, and let God worry about the things that we can't control.
No comments:
Post a Comment