It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are
defiled by what comes from your heart.
Mark 7:15
My daughter-in-law ran a pitchfork through her foot. Not
many people can say that, but she did. At the time she was not yet my
daughter-in-law, but only a young teen aged girl.
Elena had been doing outside work at her parent’s farm and
somehow managed to ram that nasty pitchfork right through her shoe and through
her foot. Her dad had just used that pitchfork, the day prior, to move a dead
raccoon. So when Elena’s parents took her to the hospital, the doctors were
concerned about rabies and infection. She had to be admitted so that IV
antibiotics could be administered.
When I went to the hospital to visit her, she looked so
small in that big hospital bed. Even though she had needles in her arm and pain
in her foot, she was sitting there in that bed with a big smile on her face.
Elena had always displayed such a sweet spirit. It was one of the many things I
loved about her.
Jesus had a message for the Pharisees and the teachers of
the law who were there to scrutinize Him. They were honoring God with their lips,
yet their hearts were somewhere else. Jesus used Jewish law to make a point. He
was letting them know that prohibited food did not defile them, but the motives
of their hearts did. He was stating that their actions were speaking louder
than their words. They were hypocrites.
The pitchfork incident had nothing to do with food that
Elena ate, however something full of bacteria went directly into her foot. It
could have caused a horrible infection in her body, but nothing could have infected
Elena’s sweet spirit because her heart belonged to God. So quite literally the
scripture above applies. Even at a young age, Elena had a deep relationship
with the Lord. It was evident in her actions, attitude and spoken words.
I was a very happy mother the day she married my son and
became part of our family. Now they have four beautiful children. Elena still
displays that same sweet spirit she had as a teenager. She instills a message
of love as she teaches her children to walk in the faith of our Lord, Jesus
Christ. The nasty pitchfork never did defile Elena, but what comes out of her proves
she is a pure and holy, infected-with- Jesus, child of God.
Dear Lord,
Thank you for giving us your Son, Jesus Christ, who changes
us from within. Let our actions prove we belong to you.
Amen
Comments
Post a Comment