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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Mark 6-7.

    Today we have Mark’s account of when the Pharisees confronted Jesus and His disciples over hand washing before eating. Jesus replies that they put more stock in following their traditions than in following God’s Laws. They are more concerned about physical cleanliness than about spiritual purity. What we eat does not spiritually defile us. We are defiled by our actions, words, and thoughts. We are not defiled by what happens to us. There are two further aspects to this. We make rules to clarify what it means to do wrong. Then we put more emphasis on not breaking these rules than in not doing the wrong these rules were designed to keep us from doing. If you are looking for loopholes that allow you to do what you want to do, you have already been defiled.