Quiet Time - Mark 7 - How To Wash

Defile

1. To make filthy or dirty; pollute: defile a river with sewage.
2. To debase the pureness or excellence of; corrupt: a country landscape that was defiled by urban sprawl.
3. To profane or sully (a reputation, for example).
4. To make unclean or unfit for ceremonial use; desecrate: defile a temple.
5. To violate the chastity of.

Mark 7:15 (NKJV)

There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.

Jesus continues His ministry. Everyone seems to know that He has something going on; that's He's "the man". Some are beginning to believe that He is the Messiah, others are looking for fault and wanting to discredit Him and his followers.

The Pharisees are tweaked. Jesus' rough and unrefined disciples are not acting as "good Jews". They are not upholding the traditions of their faith. Jesus' response is that God's commandments are all that matter. Tradition is just tradition.

The disciples were accused of defiling themselves because they didn't wash their hands. Hand washing has it's purpose. It will keep me and mine healthier, but it cannot compare to a good washing with the Word. I need to be bathed daily. (My quiet time posts may be few and far between, but those are just the posts - I am doing fairly well with reading my Bible daily - just in case you were ready to start yelling, "Hypocrite!")