A beer and the bible

Mark 7:20-23

He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them.  For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,  adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.  All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

At first I'm thinking "oh crap, not this one". It's like itching the mosquito bite. It itches, so you scratch your skin, only to watch it spread. I can't but think of Gollum from the Lord of the Rings. The man turned creature because of his obsession with his precious. Then I think of Anakin Skywalker, the anger he had for those who killed his mother. Then I remember "the generals daughter", how her vengeance at her father lead to her death. Sip some coffee, I read and think. I'm using my Venetian mug from Las Vegas. I recently had a gig there a few weeks ago. I had never been there. I was expecting it to be way worse that what it was. This scripture hits me though. It's what comes OUT that defiles me. Not what I take in. It's the evil thoughts, the lust, resentment, bitterness, anger, gross stuff, rage. It's working with a broken garbage disposal. Mines broken right now. I have to plunge it 5 times to get the sink to drain. It stinks bad. I'm reminded of the quote "the mouth speaks of what the heart is full of". How did the heart get full of junk. It's like not replacing your air filter in your A/C monthly. Junk just gets in there and pretty soon, your not breathing right. Situations just load up in life. The particles of evil slowly trinkle in and settle in, and pretty soon I'm just driving no where. It just all collected without me knowing it. How did this happen to me. I got lazy and wasn't filtering my situations through God's word. All the sudden, I'm not reading anything but the headlines, then I'm sick of christian music, sick of church, sick of scripture. Just leave me alone and hand me a beer. Beer and the bible, doesn't sound quite right, yet I feel refreshed, and God understands.

Hits me, Christ spoke with the people I think are evil. Then I find He's speaking directly to me. He's not who I thought He was. that's because I'm not seeing myself through His eyes, but through mine. All kinds of junk is going to hit me whether I like it or not, it's out I filter it leaving me that will defile me or not. I can't let the situations become my filter but word of God, man I wish that were easy.