Copper Bottom Pans

When my daughter was young we gave her the responsibility of washing dishes a few times a week. I have copper bottom pans and was always so persistent about the copper bottoms being cleaned after every use. She probably thought cleaning the bottoms did not change the effectiveness of their ability to cook our food. I'm sure she thought I was a fruitcake and truly I made more out of that chore than I should have.

In Matthew 15 Jesus is chided by the Pharisees because His disciples did not follow the tradition of washing their hands before they ate. Jesus went on to point out areas of sin in their lives and yet they were so concerned about the tradition of clean hands. Jesus quotes from Isaiah 29:13. "Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men." Jesus then goes on to teach that it isn't what goes into the mouth that defiles man; but what comes out of the mouth that defiles a man. The things that come out of the mouth are from the heart and those are the things that defile a man. He lists some of those things. I love how direct Jesus got with His disciples when they asked Him to explain what He was talking about. Then He says "Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated?" It may seem kind of crude but He was interested in making the point.

We are like the people Isaiah spoke about. We honor the Lord with our lips but our hearts are far from Him. I know this to be true by the things that come out of my mouth.

Traditions can be meaningful and useful but we need to be careful of the motives behind them. Obedience to tradition should never take the place of obedience from our hearts.

Lord, show us those places in our hearts that are disobedient. Cleanse us within so that our mouths will speak of things that do not defile.