Hi George,
The normal way the the body system works as these Scriptures states is, "everything that enters the mouth goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body" (Mat 15:17). So we eat and our body takes what it needs and the rest passes through, this is talking about the physical processes of the body, not the spiritual. So your body is not "unclean," because of occasionally eating something improper, as it passes on out of the body or by not following some standard of cleanliness. Think about the dietary habits at that time too... much different than most of what we have today. But this was talking about the physical and how it does not make you "unclean" as some at that time were saying.
Mat 15:2 "Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread."
But then comes the great spiritual lessons for us, "But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart. "Those are the things that make you 'unclean' " (v. 18), SPIRITUALLY. Our heart is the seat of our emotions and morals and is where our personality comes from and that is the difference being expressed here. As Kathy was saying 'God looks on the heart.'
Notice a few comments Ray made on this.
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Notice Prov. 23:7, "For as he THINKS in his heart, SO IS HE." The ‘heart’ is the innermost seat of our deepest emotions, but it is accessed through the MIND. It is what one thinks that determines what one is.
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This next fact doesn’t necessarily "prove" anything, it’s just the way my mind works. Jesus Christ said:
"O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the ABUNDANCE of the heart the MOUTH SPEAKS" (Mat. 12:34).
I think we all understand that statement: What is heaviest and most dominant on our heart is what we talk about the most.
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So it is the spiritual that is by far the most important.
But I want to add that most of our diets today are a far cry from what they should be, certainly since the time of Jesus most of our eating habits have changed considerably. With all the modern conveniences of stores filled with processed foods, we can take the easy way to get our foods at the expense of our health. You know the saying, 'you are what you eat'... well to me this means that the healthier the foods, the healthier the body will be. So physically in the long run the food you eat plays a big role in our health.
Now certainly you can not gain spirituality from eating a healthy diet. But I believe we have to do the best we can with what we have and so as we learn spiritual truth we should apply them in our lives. Likewise, while we are yet physical, when we learn how to better take care of our physical body, we should make the effort to change what we can as we are able. Sure everybodies life situations are different, so no one can judge another as to what they are able to do. I just thin we are to try to do the best we can, as God reveals things to us, then that is what He wants
mercy, peace and love
Kat