I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 15-17

There is a lot to be learned from this passage, but I want to focus on what Jesus says about following man-made traditions and rules instead of following the commands given by God.  I will first note that the traditions which Jesus calls out were not invented from whole cloth by the Pharisees.  They developed these traditions as an interpretation of certain instructions which had come from God,  However, we must keep in mind that doing this is a human tendency.  We all have a tendency to make complex rules that allow us to justify serving our own interests rather than obeying God.  We should be careful about listening to the guidance given by religious leaders who are willing to tell us what we want to hear.