In Matthew 15:10-20 we read that Jesus teaches the crowd to watch their tongue.
¹⁰After Jesus called the crowd to Him, HE SAID to them, “Hear and understand. ¹¹It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
¹²Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?”
It was not strange that the pharisees were offended after they heard Jesus say this, for they were very strict on following the laws they got through Moses.
Ofcourse it is a good thing to wash your hands before eating, but this was not were Jesus was speaking about. As usual, He was not speaking of things concerning this earth, but of things concerning the Kingdom of God.
This blindness is also very present these days.
Where the Bible speaks of eternal blessings concerning the Kingdom of God, it is by many blind leaders (prosperity preachers) translated to material blessings for today.
I have tried to talk to them in the past, but they are blind. You can tell a blind person that the sky is blue, but you can’t explain to him what blue looks like.
Instead of returning to the fulness of the truth, they continue in their false teachings, blinding those who listen to them as well, feeding them greed, and turning their followers into greedy wolves that are never satisfied, and never have enough.
Jesus says of such leaders and their followers ¹³ “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. ¹⁴Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
(Then) ¹⁵Peter said to Him, “Explain the parable to us.” (On this question) ¹⁶JESUS SAID, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? ¹⁷Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?
¹⁸But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. ¹⁹For out of the heart come EVIL THOUGHTS, MURDERS, ADULTERIES, FORNICATIONS, THEFTS, FALSE WITNESS, SLANDERS. ²⁰These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
Speaking FALSE WITNESS, is also what those prosperity preachers do when they take Bible verses, and explain them in such a way that these verses speak of material blessings for here and now, instead of the eternal blessings which God has prepared for His own.
The blessings God has for you are much larger, and have much more value, than any new house, new car, or filled bank account may ever be worth.
If you are blinded by these preachers, than pray to God that you may see again. Jesus did not die, so you could drive a new car, or whatever possession you may like to have. His death has an overwhelming value that reaches into eternity!
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AMEN.