Reading your Bible for today June 15

June 15: Mark 7:14-23

KJV Key Verse: Mark 7:15
15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

Devotion:
So many times we turn round to blame other things or other people when we do things wrong in our lives. We like to blame films for changing the way we do things or for us doing bad stuff. We like to blame teachers we don't like for not teaching us properly and for us failing our exams. We like to blame computer games for the violence which we carry out. But what is the real path of blame?

Whilst it is true that if we never were exposed to half of the violent and morally wrong things we have been exposed to, we may not do half the things which we seem to do, it is not really those things which are to blame for us doing wrong. Yes, we have learned how to do things wrong by being exposed to them. Yes, we have been conditioned into doing things wrong by what we expose ourselves to. But we are actually the ones to blame for doing things wrong. No matter what we are exposed to, we still have the choice as to what we do. Nothing has changed us on the inside... We have just learned that there are other ways of doing things, wrong ways. We are the ones who have made the conscious choice to do wrong!

Just as our bodies are able to process all sorts of food and gain the goodness from them, we are able to take in so much in our lives and gain the good things from them. If we watch or see something bad, we don't have to go out and do that; we can learn from these scenarios and apply the good into our lives.

If we eat poison or get bitten by a poisonous snake, we can get medicine to prevent the poison from killing us; but we do need that medicine, we can’t just sit back and hope the poison will not take effect! If we take in bad things in our lives, we can walk away from them; but we often need outside help to do that. This is what God wants us to realise; He is all-powerful and He can cure us of those evil things we have taken in before we let them out...

Points to Ponder:
Have you tried and failed to do things right?

Have you asked God to help you do the right thing?