Mark 7:5-9
"Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, 'Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?' He answered and said to them, 'Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctines the commandments of men'. 'For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men- the washing of pitchers and cups and many other such things you do'. He said to them, 'All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition'."
The Jewish people were well aware of God's supernatural hand: the plagues that ultimately freed them from Egyptian rule; daily manna from Heaven to feed them in the wilderness; a promised land where they would lack nothing. Yet with all the good He had done, their hearts were far from Him. When presented with their Messiah, they mostly rejected Him, instead seeking to kill the One who could save them from their sins. The Pharisees and scribes - those who studied the Law and prophets and were in the best position to know when He had come, were the worst offenders. They served themselves and were unfruitful in Him.
We, the church, comprised of the ministers as well as the rest of the body, will be tempted in the same way. We must speak to the mountain that would stand between us and becoming a fruitful branch in Christ Jesus, saying unto that high thing which is any/every self-serving notion that would keep us from walking as He walked, "be removed, be cast into the sea, and doubt it not in our hearts, but believe it, and we shall have IT" - freedom from the bondage of self-service.
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