February 28, 2024 

Today's Reading: Mark 7:1-23

Daily Lectionary: Genesis 22:1-19, Mark 7:1-23

What comes out of a person is what defiles them. (Mark 7:20) 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It can be easy to blame your sin on other people, your circumstances, or even ignorance. But Jesus makes one thing clear in our reading, sin is a heart problem. No one causes you to sin, instead it is something that you are born with. It is ingrained in your DNA, woven into the fabric of your being. Sin has infected you like a disease, and on your own it is winning. It spreads from within, and out it comes. You gossip about friends, disobey your parents, watch pornography, oppose authority, and neglect the Word of God. Your heart is to blame for it all. Apart from God, your heart is hardened, like stone. 

But Jesus has something to say about that, while you are infected with sin, Jesus is the great physician. He treats you with His mercy, His grace, and His forgiveness. In Baptism He cleanses you, in the Lord’s Supper, He offers His body and blood as medicine, a balm for those who ache and hurt. Jesus treats the infection at its center, He takes that heart of stone and crushes it, and He replaces it with a heart of flesh, and while it was once stone, it now beats for God, and beats for service of neighbor. 

This new heart no longer looks inward towards itself, but toward all those in need. This new heart is one that is infectious with love. It pours our Christ to others. This new heart hates sin and loves righteousness. This new heart repents and receives forgiveness. This new heart grows in holiness and Christian maturity. For this new heart is from Jesus. And He has graciously given it to you.  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

In Adam we have all been,  One huge rebellious man;   We all have fled that evening voice 

That sought us as we ran. (LSB 569:1) 

- Pastor Caleb Weight is associate pastor of Peace In Christ Lutheran Church in Hermantown, MN.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

The Lutheran Reader’s Bible helps you develop a habit of devotion and Bible reading so you can slowly but intentionally understand and grow in God’s Word. Through introductions to the sixty-six books of the Bible, guided reading plans, and more, this Bible builds your confidence to study Scripture on your own.