Devotion - Thursday, Sept 1

In Mark 7:20ff Jesus speaks of the things which defile us. He says, "Nothing outside us, which by going into us can defile us; but the things which come out are what defile."

Granted, Jesus is mostly thinking of the food laws which had become so restrictive. He thus declares all food clean. He then goes on to say, "For from within, out of the heart, come evil thoughts."

Earlier this week I was in a wonderful conversation about Satan. "I hear you don't put much stock in Satan," was the opening comment to me. In my reply, I attempted to relate the comments of Jesus in Mark 7 to the sometimes popular notion of Satan as the one who is responsible for every evil thing which happens in the world. "We want someone else to blame," I replied. "So we make Satan the offender, absolving ourselves of responsibility."

Granted, there are outside influences which impact us and our devotion to God. But having set our hearts and minds on God, we have the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When we rebel against this guidance, we have only ourselves to blame, not some nasty spirit lurking around and whispering into our ear.

We know what God would ask of us, but our willful spirit rejects this in favor of what is expedient at the moment. We know how important it is to read our bibles and pray, but the latest edition of our favorite TV show is airing and everyone else will be talking about that tomorrow, not what I read in my Bible.

It is our own heart and mind which tug us away from that which God would prefer. It is tough to maintain the commitment to God that we seek. But when we fall away, we have only ourselves to blame, not someone or something else. Our confession to God should not be, "The Devil made me do it," but rather, "Forgive my trespass, O Lord."