Sip #1 – Read Mark, Chapter 2 in the New Living Translation (NLT) in the Bible
Sip #2 – Read my big takeaway from the day
Sip #3 – NOT REQUIRED-Add comments/thoughts/questions in the Comments Box (bottom of page)
Sip #4 – Re-read any parts of Chapter 2 that impacted you
Sip #5 – Come back tomorrow for Mark, Chapter 3

Mark, Chapter 2 today… Look at verse 8 a moment… “Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, ‘Why do you question this in your hearts?’…”

Some would say, “Well, he’s God in human flesh. Of course he can read people’s minds.” I get that and agree, BUT… that’s not what jumps out at me. Look at that question. Ponder his question. Does the question disturb you a bit… like it does me? The root of the question has to do with the inner thoughts we can have…. the ones that come from the heart.

As you may (or may not) know, I love heart-warming Hallmark, GAC, and Lifetime Christmas movies (I’m finishing up one right now, actually). I’m a fan the year round, because of their corny, happy, sappy, magical, and fantastical endings… that zing the heart. There is always a happy ending, and they never get old. Some of us love them. However, the heart is not always a sunbeam of hope, joy, and love.

Look at what some of the other scriptures say about the heart… “You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” … “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” … “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” … “As in water, face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.” … There are more too.

The heart is a bit… chippy, dark, and cold quite often. Out of it can come thoughts that, if we were to be honest, we could/would NEVER share for anyone to hear. Sometimes we catch ourselves, right? You know that internal voice… “I can’t believe I just thought that about that person.” We just came out of the season of “A Christmas Carol” and Ebeneezer Scrooge is the closest we have to hearing what a dark heart sounds like. And, yes, that was just a movie, and there are people who speak what they are thinking in our world. Most, though, keep the thoughts to themselves, which… doesn’t solve the problem of the heart.

Guarding the heart is a full-time job. It’s an organ that is needed for life, but it also has a “mind.” In this Bible event, the religious leaders were verbally and privately bent out of shape that Jesus forgave a man’s sins… a paralyzed man… a paralyzed man that Jesus healed. They were DEEPLY offended at Jesus words, and seemed to look past the crazy cool miracle. They were troubled by his “gaul.” “Only God heals! You can’t! You shouldn’t!”… screams the heart.

And, Jesus heard it loud and clear.

Bottom line… Only God and I know what my heart is thinking. Yes, I can certainly open up about thoughts that cross the line, but do I share EVERY thought? Do you? There are movies that depict this sort of thing…

In “Liar, Liar”… Conniving attorney Fletcher Reede is an ace in the courtroom, but his dishonesty and devotion to work ruin his relationships. His wife, Audrey, has left him for a more dependable man, and Fletcher often breaks the commitments he makes to his beloved son, Max. When Max wishes his dad would stop lying for 24 hours, Fletcher suddenly finds that he can only speak the truth, on the day his career-deciding court case has to be won.” Jim Carrey obviously says some hilarious things in the flick, but, if you think about it (and if you’ve seen the movie) this is what the chaos would look like… if we spoke 100% truth from our heart, mind, and soul.

Scary.

So, here’s what we need to do. Make certain to LISTEN to God’s Spirit when He convicts us of a thought. Don’t just brush it off. He challenges us for a reason… to make us more like him. Be honest with yourself with the people, events, circumstances, and bad decisions you don’t like. Those thoughts are real. Without facing the thoughts, it’s kind of hard to guard the heart. Once we learn to guard our hearts, taking the negative thoughts captive is possible. If we refuse to face the dark side of our hearts, well… as we continue to read the Book of Mark, keep your eye out for the religious leaders, Pharisees, High Priests.

They are NOT the model we want to follow.