GETTING MEANINGS RIGHT

DAY 37/366

Mark 7:5 So the Pharisees and scribes questioned Jesus: “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat with defiled hands.”

Actions are simply actions if they occur without context, it is the meanings that are attached to them which determine our responses. In other words, nothing means anything until you assign meanings to it. Think about this briefly for a moment : “a stranger walks up to you and opens their palms towards you, what comes to mind?

A number of meanings can be derived: ‘I come in peace’, ‘I mean well, ‘give me what you have’, ‘take my hand’, ‘I surrender’ or ‘lead the way’. On many accounts, depending on who you are, where you are and your current frame of mind, you might respond in a certain way. “Regardless, since the meanings we assign to things predict our response, we need to be careful how we define them.

To the pharisees in Jesus discourse today, unwashed hands meant defilement, hence they were happy to go any mile to present as clean. Unfortunately, real meaning was lost in this bid to fulfill all tradition.  Their Worship became mundane, and honor, a chore.

Beloved, we have to get our definitions and meanings right, else we will not respond to things as we should. We could even stray from what true worship looks like. It’s time to review the ‘default meanings’ we have attached to events, so we can reasses our responses.

#sly