Matthew 15: 1-2, 10-14
Some Pharisees and scribes came
to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,
“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?
They do not wash their hands when they eat a meal.”
He summoned the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand.
It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles the man;
but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.”
Then his disciples approached and said to him,
“Do you know that the Pharisees took offense
when they heard what you said?”
He said in reply, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted
will be uprooted.
Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind.
If a blind man leads a blind man,
both will fall into a pit.”
“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?
They do not wash their hands when they eat a meal.”
He summoned the crowd and said to them, “Hear and understand.
It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles the man;
but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one.”
Then his disciples approached and said to him,
“Do you know that the Pharisees took offense
when they heard what you said?”
He said in reply, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted
will be uprooted.
Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind.
If a blind man leads a blind man,
both will fall into a pit.”
It is not what enters one’s
mouth that defiles the man; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles
one.
A diamond buried in the earth has all of the beauty of a
diamond mounted on a ring of gold. The surrounding dirt does not change the
beauty the diamond ultimately holds. In a similar manner we all were made masterpieces
by God’s own hand. Our surroundings cannot change the beauty he has bestowed
within us. On we can defile that beauty in the way we live our lives.
Living an upright life offends those who don’t. This should
never be an excuse to live any other way. In the absence of light dark rules.
Even the feeblest of candles cast out the darkness. More importantly, light
attracts to it others who love light but cannot find their way in the darkness.
In the absence of light people will cling to darkness out of desperation. The
blind lead the blind deeper into darkness.
Do not allow yourself to be defiled by your words or your
actions. Let the beauty God bestowed upon you to guide you in living an upright
life in the light of truth and love. May you be a beacon to those in darkness
seeking the light. Pay no mind to those who take offense with the way you live.
Their evil will be uprooted in due time. Be among the plants in God’s care and
not with the ones bound to the compost pit.
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