Reflection on Matthew 15:1-20

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Scripture

“From the heart, come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”

Observation

Some Pharisees come to Jesus and ask him why He permits His disciples to disobey the traditions of hand washing before eating.

Jesus turns the question back on them by asking, “Why do you allow people to dishonour their parents by not supporting them?” He goes on to tell the crowd that they are not defiled by what they put into their mouth, but rather by what comes out of it. What is important is not what we eat, but the state of our heart.

Application

What does it mean to be clean before the Lord?

The Pharisees were concerned with total obedience to the law. They specified very clearly what could be done on the Sabbath, how to tithe, what to eat, and so on. They believed it was following these rules that made a person right with God.

Jesus pointed out that the deeper issue is what our hearts are like. It is the heart, which determines our behaviour. A bad heart generates bad behaviour. The person whose heart is right with God, does not have to worry about following the rules. They will do what pleases God naturally.

A good heart draws us closer to God.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, please make my heart more like you. Amen.

Backyard Veggie Garden

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I have had a few years off vegetable gardening.This year, it all seems to be taking off faster than I can keep up with it. This might be partly due to applying a dig-in fertiliser before planting.

In order of planting, from right to left, we have pumpkin (you can almost see it growing!), cucumber, corn, tomatoes (cherry tomatoes are staked up, ordinary tomato plants are younger, smaller and don’t need any attention yet). Then we have capsicum, silver beet and beetroot. Finally in the fat left, some cauliflower and broccoli seedlings I planted out this morning on the back of 14 mm of rain in last night’s storm.

I discovered last year that the key to good broccoli is lots of fertiliser. I hope that I can get that right this year.

We should get some good healthy food in a couple of months.

Quote for the Day

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Culture is best described as ‘the way we do things around here’, and it manifests through routines, rituals, rules, symbols, stories, systems, values and beliefs. The culture in the environment exerts pressure on anyone within it to conform. Michael Rowell