After the miraculous feeding of the multitude, the Pharisees came to Jesus asking why He and His disciples didn't ceremonially wash their hands in accordance with the tradition of the Jewish elders. The implication was that Jesus and the disciples were defiling themselves by eating without washing.
Jesus confronted them with their hypocrisy and then turned and taught His disciples re spiritual cleanliness. Here is the lesson: It isn't what goes in to a person that makes him or her unclean, but what comes out of his or her mouth, ie his or her words. Why words? Because the words and the ensuing actions (which are the manifestation of those words) reflect the condition of that person's heart. Yes, there are religious people today, just like the Pharisees, who say all the right things, but their conduct is very different from their speech. I'm sure that if you stuck close to them for any length of time (as a fly on a wall) you would probably hear very different words come out of their mouth from what is espoused while attending church functions.
God is all about giving us new, clean hearts that speak His words and perform His actions. The condition of one's heart is based on what he or she believes, and that belief is based on one's thinking. How does one change his or her thinking to line up with God's thinking? Meditate on the Word and keep meditating, even when circumstances and people pressure you to give up, cave in, and quit!
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