Welcome to our new project, the Daily Bible Devotional. The goal is to help you understand and apply

scripture as you go through a New Testament Bible read five days a week, Monday through Friday,

as we move from Matthew straight through to Revelation. In under four minutes each morning, we will recap the chapter,

make some application, present thought questions for the day, and offer a prayer together.

I'm excited about exploring God's word with you, so let's get started.

Hey, let's jump right in with Matthew the 15th chapter today.

The scribes and Pharisees are back on the scene, renewing their accusations against Jesus and his disciples, this time about the washing of hands before eating.

Jesus points out how these teachers violate the actual commandments of God for the sake of their own traditions.

Their interpretation of the law has taken precedent over the actual commandments of God for the sake of their own traditions. Their interpretation of the law has taken precedent over the actual teachings of God's law. Jesus reveals this is happening because of

their hearts. They should be less concerned about others' dirty hands and more concerned with their

unholy hearts. This is said in contrast to the great miracles

that follow. A Canaanite woman begs for healing for her daughter, and Christ commends her faith.

Jesus heals many by the sea as they glorify God. He then feeds another group of over 4,000 people

demonstrating once again his compassion.

Here's some things we learn from this text.

This chapter features two very different categories of people.

On the one hand, the Pharisees are supposed to be the most knowledgeable and righteous people in Israel.

However, they proved to be harsh and hypocritical

and ultimately miss out on the immense blessings of Christ. Said in contrast, a Gentile woman,

who knows she is unworthy of Jesus, begs for his help in faith. All those who pursue Jesus are healed,

fed, and blessed. We must be careful because knowledge

is good, but only from pure, humble, and holy hearts. We must never let knowledge make us judges

...