Bible Reading: Mark 7:1-23
Key Verse: Verse 23 - “All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
Key Words: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man
What you are on the inside will eventually come out to the outside. That’s what we call our testimony.
From the Choice Gleanings Calendar comes this story: On one occasion Hudson Taylor wanted to teach a spiritual lesson, so he filled a glass with water and placed it on the table before him. While he was speaking, he pounded his fist hard enough to make water splash onto the table. He then explained, “You will come up against much trouble. But when you do, remember, only what’s in you will spill out.”
That’s worth thinking about, isn’t it? If we are mistreated or misunderstood, how do we respond? With loving words, patience and kindness? Or are we inclined to retaliate in anger? In Ephesians 4:17-32, we see the contrast between the old man and the new man – what a person is before he is saved and filled with God’s Spirit, and what he is afterward. When we are under the control of the Holy Spirit, we will show it by the way we react to the shocking, jolting trials and temptations of life. How we respond to trying, embarrassing situations that are suddenly thrust upon us is a good test of how much we have grown in grace. What we do on the spur of the moment, when we don’t have time to think or weigh the consequences, reveals whether or not our lives are filled with the love of Christ.
A non-Christian in a tense situation may suppress his innermost feelings in order to serve his own ends. But when a person who is filled with the Savior’s love is jostled, he will be patient and kind without even thinking about it. Like that glass of water, he shows what’s on the inside by what spills over on the outside.
So what’s spilling out of you? Love, joy, peace, etc. – or envy, gossip, and criticism? You know what’s on the inside by what’s going out.
✞ If you don’t like what’s on the outside, imagine what it’s like on the inside. Think about it.
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