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Once again, in this chapter, Jesus keeps His focus on what really matters in following Him. In verses 20-22 He says, “20 He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ 21 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.” We as humans want to keep a lot of rules and regulations so that we can feel good about keeping score. Jesus makes it pretty simple by explaining how all the things we do for ourselves means nothing if it doesn’t result in purity that comes out. What we allow to come out of our bodies (namely our mouths) and how it affects others means everything. Our actions and reactions to others is a direct reflection of our relationship with God.
Daily Devotion 
Building off of yesterday’s reading, this verse spoke to me, “You revoke God’s word by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other similar things.” (Mark 7:13)
It’s very dangerous to adapt God’s word to fit our life. We can try to twist things to accommodate our lifestyle. Jesus warned the religous do gooders of His time about this and I think we need to listen too. As our churches grow, it’s easy to lose the focus. But we must make sure we maintain that a relationship with God through Jesus is the focus of our lives and of our churches.