Mark 7:1-8 (The Message)
1 The Pharisees, along with some religion scholars who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around him. 2 They noticed that some of his disciples weren't being careful with ritual washings before meals. 3 The Pharisees - Jews in general, in fact - would never eat a meal without going through the motions of a ritual hand-washing, 4 with an especially vigorous scrubbing if they had just come from the market (to say nothing of the scourings they'd give jugs and pots and pans). 5 The Pharisees and religion scholars asked, "Why do your disciples flout the rules, showing up at meals without washing their hands?" 6 Jesus answered, "Isaiah was right about frauds like you, hit the bull's-eye in fact: These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their heart isn't in it. 7 They act like they are worshiping me, but they don't mean it. They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy, 8 Ditching God's command and taking up the latest fads."
The best way to be religious is to not try to be religious. The best way to be religious is to be spiritual: more open, loving, sensitive, kind, gentle, compassionate, etc. To be religious is to be a warm caring human being who lifts life up for others. It is to have a secret - God loves me and everyone - and it is to live out that secret in the ordinary affairs of life.
“We have enough religion
to make us hate,
but not enough to make
us love one another."
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)
Prayer thought for the week: “Lord, help me to not be so heavenly minded (religious) that I am no earthly good. Help me to love, even when it flies against my religious certainties.”
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