“If the godly give in to the wicked, it’s like polluting a fountain or muddying a spring.” Proverbs 25:26, NLT

• Is Jesus really the “air” we breathe?
• Is Jesus the “water” we drink to sustain life?
• Is Jesus the “food” we eat as daily manna for our hungry souls?
• Am I polluting the air with ungodly talk for others to hear?
• Am I polluting the living water by adding to what Jesus has said—with my own opinions?
• Am I polluting His Word, (our daily manna), with man-made, “churchy” rules of behavior that have little to nothing to do with salvation and living like Jesus?

These are questions I ask as the enemy of the world continually tries to pollute my air, water, and food spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. 

Jesus is telling the people around him (and we who are reading now) where the source of real pollution can be found. Jesus does not mince words but spells out the Truth very clearly: polluters are frauds who use God and people to gain what they want for themselves.  In the process they pollute (adding what is impure) what God provides for His people that is pure and holy!  

Mark 7, The Message

The Source of Your Pollution

^1-4 The Pharisees, along with some religion scholars who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around him. They noticed that some of his disciples weren’t being careful with ritual washings before meals. The Pharisees—Jews in general, in fact—would never eat a meal without going through the motions of a ritual hand-washing, 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 brush off the rules, showing up at meals without washing their hands?”

^6-8 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.
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,
Ditching God’s command
    and taking up the latest fads.”

^9-13 He went on, “Well, good for you. You get rid of God’s command so you won’t be inconvenienced in following the religious fashions! Moses said, ‘Respect your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.’ But you weasel out of that by saying that it’s perfectly acceptable to say to father or mother, ‘Gift! What I owed you I’ve given as a gift to God,’ thus relieving yourselves of obligation to father or mother. You scratch out God’s Word and scrawl a whim in its place. You do a lot of things like this.”

^14-15 Jesus called the crowd together again and said, “Listen now, all of you—take this to heart. It’s not what you swallow that pollutes your life; it’s what you vomit—that’s the real pollution.”

¹⁷ When he was back home after being with the crowd, his disciples said, “We don’t get it. Put it in plain language.”

^18-19 Jesus said, “Are you being willfully stupid? Don’t you see that what you swallow can’t contaminate you? It doesn’t enter your heart but your stomach, works its way through the intestines, and is finally flushed.” (That took care of dietary quibbling; Jesus was saying that all foods are fit to eat.)

^20-23 He went on: “It’s what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness—all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God is pure, holy, faithful to His promises, loving, merciful and full of grace.  He is all that is right and true.  God never changes.  He can be found faithful in all these ways.

Whatever we believe will be reflected in our behaviors.  What goes in come out.  But Jesus says what comes out can pollute another person’s life as well.  Life is not just about us.  Who we are and what we do affects others around us.  Are we polluters or promoters of the Living Water (Jesus)?

The Pharisees were the source of pollution that muddied the “Living Waters” that gave life.  They polluted the lives of God’s people by using God and His Law to suit their arrogant whims and desires for power.  The created rituals based first on cleanliness, that later evolved into more about ceremonial compliance with punishment. They were dressed up in finery and put on a big show for the paupers of the community.  They felt they had a right to do whatever hearts desired—sin and sin pollutes everything it touches.

Our Response:  Pray for repentance of times that we were the pollutant for others.  David wrote a prayer that perfectly fits:

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit” Psalm 51:10-12 (NRSV)

Need more? Here is a few more words of prayer from God’s Word to clean up what pollutes our hearts:

• God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8, NLT).
• Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. (Psalm 24:4, NLT).
• Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. (Proverbs 4:23, NLT).
• Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. (James 4:8, NLT).
• You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. (1 Peter 1:22, NLT).
• “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. (John 14:1, NLT).

There are even more scriptures to avoid pollution, but we get the picture, right?  Our enemy pollutes what God has deemed pure and holy.  God will cleanse us of all sin that has polluted our lives when we repent in Jesus Name. 

Go to the Source and Eternal Sustainer of Life! –Jesus!

I Am The Bread Of Life (John 6:35)

I Am The Light Of The World (John 8:12)

I Am The Gate For The Sheep (John 10:7)

I Am The Good Shepherd (John 10:11)

I Am The Resurrection And The Life (John 11:25)

I Am The Way The Truth And The Life (John 14:6)

I Am The True Vine (John 15:1)

Believe and be made whole and holy before God in Jesus Name.

Lord,

Thank you for these thoughts that cause us to pause and reflect on what we are allowing to pollute our beings!  Cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, refresh, and feed our souls, and restore the joy and peace of your salvation at work within us.

In Jesus Name, For your Glory, Amen!