Sunday’s Class Text was Mark 6; so, when I opened my Bible this morning, perhaps not strangely, it opened to Mark 7. The left side of the right-sided page said read me! I did.

²⁰ And He said, “Whatever comes from [the heart of] a man, that is what defiles and dishonors him. ²¹ For from within, [that is] out the heart of men, come base and malevolent thoughts and schemes, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, adulteries, ²² acts of greed and covetousness, wickedness, deceit, unrestrained conduct, envy and jealousy, slander and profanity, arrogance and self-righteousness and foolishness (poor judgment). ²³ All these evil things [schemes and desires] come from within and defile and dishonor the man.” source

I made notes. I asked questions. I numbered the things He listed – 13 of them.

1. Base and malevolent thoughts and schemes
2. Acts of sexual immorality – any/all acts outside the Garden Marriage
3. Thefts
4. Murders
5. Adulteries – wait, didn’t He mention sexuality immorality, already?
6. Acts of greed and covetousness
7. Wickedness
8. Deceit
9. Unrestrained conduct – this is so broad – like, this could be anything!
10. Envy and jealousy
11. Slander and profanity – profanity? My goodness, I hear it everywhere!
12. Arrogance and self-righteousness
13. Foolishness (poor judgment)

Verse 23. All these evil.
Yes.
He said evil.
All 13 listed He, GOD, called them EVIL.

And did you notice the list begins with thoughts?
We have to think it, to do it.
Perhaps the most damming thing we think is that these 13 things are not evil.

What is evil anyway?

Well, man’s dictionary defines it this way:

wicked, bad, wrong, morally wrong, wrongful, immoral, sinful, ungodly, unholy, foul, vile, base, ignoble, dishonorable, corrupt, iniquitous, depraved, degenerate, villainous, nefarious, sinister, vicious, malicious, malevolent, demonic, devilish, diabolic, diabolical, fiendish, heinous, odious, contemptible, horrible, execrable, lowdown, stinking, dirty, shady, warped, bent, crooked; archaic dastardly, egregious, flagitious  source

Get the idea?

Back to verse 23. All these evil things come from within us.
Does that mean, if we do these things, these things are IN us? That our inner being is evil?

Would GOD lie? The Bible says He cannot lie.  (See Titus 1:2)

Let us let that simmer for a while.
Because I know the story does not end here!! :) 

Do you?

Thinking: JESUS will not override man’s unbelief. We are free to disbelieve Him.

The people of Nazareth when given the opportunity to believe chose NOT.  And He let them. 

Mark 6  (AMP) Jesus left there and came to His hometown [Nazareth]; and His disciples followed Him.

³ Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are His sisters not here with us?” And they were [deeply] offended by Him [and their disapproval blinded them to the fact that He was anointed by God as the Messiah]. ⁴ Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor (respect) except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” ⁵ And He could not do a miracle there at all [because of their unbelief] except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ He wondered at their unbelief.

And He was going around in the villages teaching.

I don’t want to miss the miracles that can be mine so when my faith is wavering I choose to be like the man of

Mark 9.  ²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

And do you know what Jesus did?!

²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. source

Jesus will not override our unbelief but He sure will give us faith when we ask!

Mark 10. Twice Jesus asked the same question. First to James and John and then to Bartimaeus, blind Bartimaeus.

Ready for the question?

³⁵ James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask you.” ³⁶ “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked them. source

⁴⁹ Yeshua stopped and said, “Call him over.” So they call the blind man, saying, “Take heart! Get up, He’s calling you!” ⁵⁰ Throwing off his cloak, he jumped up and came to Yeshua. ⁵¹ And answering him, Yeshua said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” source

So.
What would you answer Him if JESUS were to ask you the same question?