August 17: Matthew 15:10-11

Key Verse: Matthew 15:11
What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.

Devotion:
Jesus was good at picking out the people who were pretending to be Christians! Take a look around you and try to understand why Christians act the way they do… try to discern why they do what they do and compare it to what God has asked of us. Far too often we fall back into the ways of the world when we get comfortable in a church; we go ahead and redefine what we think God has told us so we are more comfortable too!

God does not pick us out because we listen to the wrong things or because we eat the wrong stuff. What God does pick us up on is what we do wrong. I know we are often persuaded to do things wrong because of what we listen to and what we watch, but that is us making a conscious choice to do what we know is wrong.

God has given us enough direction for us to know the right path to follow. He continues to try and give us direction for as long as we are going to listen too. God’s instructions are for us all and not just a select few in church. This is why Jesus called the crowd to Him before telling them the truth about what they do; the warning signs are there that people will judge others by what they listen to, eat and drink, but God can look past that to what comes out of people’s hearts at the end of the day!

As long as we are able to separate the worldly ways from the Heavenly ways, we should stand a good chance of being able to do the right things and not to be fooled into doing the wrong things… but we are weak and we do give in; especially when we see someone doing the wrong thing but being rewarded for doing that! God is not going to reward those who constantly choose the wrong way, but He will reward those we do choose the righteous way.

Points to Ponder:
How often do you do things wrong because you see others do things wrong?

Will you take encouragement from God’s righteousness?