Our Daily Bread Devotional 3rd March 2024 Sunday ODB Message
Our Daily Bread Devotional 3rd March 2024 TOPIC: A Heart for Christ
BIBLE IN A YEAR: Numbers 28−30; Mark 8:22−38
KEY VERSE: 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.” Matthew 15:19−20
Today’s Scripture: Matthew 15:7−20
Our Daily Bread Devotional 3rd March 2024 Insight By Tim Gustafson
When Jesus quoted Isaiah in Matthew 15:8-9, it was from a passage in which God, through the prophet, confronted the people of Jerusalem over their self-righteous religious practices (Isaiah 29:13). In that day, the people claimed to know God, but their actions proved their hearts were stone-cold. In the Messiah’s day, He directed Isaiah’s accusation specifically at the Pharisees, who were guilty of the same sin.
The Pharisees had just accused Jesus’ disciples of failing to wash their hands before eating. Mark’s parallel account about this scene expands on the Pharisees’ unhelpful tradition (see Mark 7:3-4). There was nothing wrong with the washing of one’s hands prior to eating. But the Pharisees had made this a requirement, elevating “human rules” to the status of God-ordained law (Matthew 15:9).
Our Daily Bread Devotional 3rd March 2024 MESSAGE:
As long as you keep your mouth closed, I told myself, you won’t be doing anything wrong. I’d been outwardly holding back my anger toward a colleague after misinterpreting things she’d said. Since we had to see each other every day, I decided to limit communication to only what was necessary (and retaliate with my silent treatment). How could a quiet demeanor be wrong?
Jesus said that sin begins in the heart (Matthew 15:18−20). My silence may have fooled people into thinking all was well, but it wasn’t fooling God. He knew I was hiding a heart filled with anger. I was like the Pharisees who honored God with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him (v. 8). Even though my outward appearance didn’t show my true feelings, the bitterness was festering inside me. The joy and closeness I’d always felt with my heavenly Father were gone. Nurturing and hiding sin does that.
By God’s grace, I told my colleague how I was feeling and apologized. She graciously forgave me and, eventually, we became good friends. “Out of the heart come evil thoughts” (v. 19), Jesus says. The state of our heart matters because evil residing there can overflow into our lives. Both our exterior and interior matter. (ODB Devotional Message By: Karen Huang)
REFLECT: Jesus said that the sin in our heart defiles us. What “evil thoughts” might be defiling your heart? How can you pray regarding this matter?
PRAY: Loving God, please forgive me for the sins I’ve been nurturing in my heart. I want my heart to be pleasing in Your sight. Please help me to change.
Our Daily Bread 3 March 2024 Sunday ODB Message. Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODB) is a Christian organization founded by Dr. Martin De Haan in 1938. It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with over 600 employees. It produces several devotional publications, including Our Daily Bread. our daily bread devotional for today audio our daily bread booklet.
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