Last week I was preparing for the Children & Youth Sermon at our church. I try to share something related to Mike’s sermon. I usually read the scripture and think about it all week in order to determine the best way to present it to the youth. This week the scripture was:
There is nothing people put into their bodies that makes them unclean. People are made unclean by the things that come out of them.
Mark 7:15 (New Century Version)
I gave them some miniature chocolate bars but made sure they washed their hands before eating them. The story surrounding this Bible verse centered on the Pharisees asking Jesus why his disciples didn’t follow the tradition of washing their hands before eating. Jesus explained to them and others standing around that it is “not what goes into your body that makes you unclean, it is the bad words that come out of your mouth. Out of your hearts come evil thoughts, greed, cheating, and jealousy. This is what makes you unclean.” The Pharisees were more concerned about following the traditions of men and having clean hands than following God and having a clean heart.
I asked the group to think about what we do to keep our hearts clean. We clean our hands, especially with the pandemic, but do we protect our hearts from evil thoughts? Think about books we read, TV shows/movies we watch, what we read on social media, and what language comes out of our mouths?
When we take the time to think about this, it becomes easier to grasp how we are bombarded just about every second of every day with information/stimulation of some sort. We hear, see, touch, feel, and eat what is coming into our bodies. All of these things are coming into our bodies and our minds and our hearts, but how do we guard against the evil/ungodly information remaining there? What if we let an evil thought just sit for a little while, and before long, it takes root and begins to spread in our heart and minds? Doesn’t the devil love this!!
How can we guard our hearts?
Protect Everything That Comes In - We need to use wisdom in what we allow into our hearts. We only have a limited time each day to make much of God, so what are we being influenced by, listening to, or looking at? Protect yourself from harms way and a culture that is anti-God and replace it with things that are Godly. Your heart will then remain protected.
Cultivate An Atmosphere Of Community - There’s no way to follow Jesus in isolation. Your heart needs people constantly pouring into you, and you need to be pouring into people. There’s a constant flow coming in and out as you love and serve others.
Trust The Lord With Rest
We live in a culture that is so fast paced. While we run around like crazy, we often forget this is bad for our hearts. We are also telling God we don’t trust Him in the process. When we rest in the Lord (including taking a full day off), we are declaring our dependency on Him. We are admitting we can’t do life on our own.
Preach The Gospel To Yourself Each Day - The Gospel isn’t just a “one time” thing and a ticket to heaven, but something we all need each and every day…really every minute. The second we take our eyes off of the cross we forget who we really are. Our hearts need to be reminded that while we still sin, we are forgiven, redeemed, and are children of God!
As you start your day with this truthful reminder, you’ll have no choice but to glorify God in everything you do!
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Proverbs 4:23 (New Living Translation)
Guard your heart, my friends!
Thanks for stopping by,
Rachel
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