What Goes in Must Come Out

 Matthew 15: 10-19

10 And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

I read these words and I honestly have to wonder... why couldn't the disciples understand this teaching?   To me it seems so obvious.

What goes in must come out. 

Makes sense right? 

I am reading a book right now in which one of the characters is a severely obese man.  He died. His wife and children are both thin and loved this man whole-heartedly.  He loved deeply his wife said.  He hated that he was fat, but he loved eating too much. She continued talking about how much he hated his love of eating but was unsuccessful in figuring out how not to eat so much.  So what he ate... came out.. in excess fat.   In someways, I struggle with the same thing!  I do love food dearly... so this passage reminds me that I need to do better. 

But that's not where this passage stops.   Jesus is just using it to make the point.  What does in must come out. 

If what is coming out is foul... what does that say for what it going in? 

The way a person speaks and lives out their lives shows what is going into their lives, or perhaps more clearly, it shows what they are focusing on. What their heart is sending out comes out of one's mouth.  As Jesus puts it: For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 

It's a fight isn't it? To be mindful of those evil thoughts and more.  

This is my fight too!

I'll admit that I had to fight against that today. It caught me off guard how long I considered it.  I saw a coat I liked at Talize but was rather unimpressed with the price.  YES.. it was a fair amount for a good quality used coat, but it's been an expensive month and I felt like I couldn't catch a break.  I consider swapping out price tags!   Can you believe it?  Would have been easy enough...but I caught those way-ward thoughts. And I did not let them come to fruition. 

WHY?  Why did I stop myself?  1. I don't want to be a thief and 2. I had just read about planning out my day.   Would that be something I would want to plan????  NOT!!!!   It's not something I would want to be known for either. 

As I left Talize I thought about how God blessed me with letting me find this coat.  I need a good work outside with the rabbits coats as my old $5 coat from years ago.  AND if I stopped and thought about it... of course the price of coats would go up in 10 years wouldn't they?

What Does one do?

The only way you can fight what's in our hearts is by filling our hearts with something else!  That's it. Just as we can fight what we put in our mouths... so if we like to eat we food we just need to switch it out for lower calorie food and eat more slowly.  :) 

If we want to change what fills our heart we need to provide some competition so to speak.  We are naturally filled with sin and working (as believers) to be filled more with the things of God allows those things to come out of our hearts instead. 

How does one invite more impact from God?  Daily devotions, attending a faithful church where God's word is preached, reading books of faith, having friends who love God, and taking the time to see God in the things of life.   

What do you pull out of this passage?