With spring not too far away, I must ask...how many of you have times when you just do a good old fashioned house cleaning, or as it is called - a spring cleaning? Most of us do. We go through the house, garage, closets, attic, and so on and so on ....... What we are doing is getting rid of the junk that is not doing us any good. Now keep that in mind as we explore the thoughts for today.
There have been times when I have gone to church and quite honestly, left feeling unfulfilled. I would blame it on the Preacher, the music service, the lady with the big hair in front of me, or whatever else I can find to gripe about. But how often is the problem really me? The question needs to be asked...why am I going to church? Is it to be seen? Is it to impress everybody with my great spiritual maturity (or lack there of)? Is it because it is my job or any other of a multitude of reasons?
I find it interesting that on two occasions Jesus is seen going into the temple and "cleansing" God's house: at the beginning of His ministry and at the end of His earthly ministry. When I look at the early account I notice a couple of things. First, look at verses 16-17:
And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”
I wonder, when was the last time that my "zeal" for God's house ate me up? Just being so full of being in His place, that place that is meant to be a house of prayer, that all the trappings and doings are purely secondary. We get so caught up in what is being said, done, or not done that we forget to worship. We get so caught up in the business of the church that we forget to see the purpose fo the church.
The second point that I would like to make about this passage is found in verse 15:
When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.
Jesus' response to the junk in the temple was fairly straight forward...He drove it out. No compromise, no debate...this stuff is spoiling the purpose for which God gave us His house so it must go. The same can be said of the spiritual temple that God has given us...our selves. When was the last time I truly did a good old fashioned house cleaning of myself? To go in and find the junk, tucked away in closets, the attic, the garage of my life...and then to take that junk and throw it out.
God promised that if we "confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrigtheousness." (1 John 1:9) When we allow God to clean us out, and do it with authority and totality, we will experience the ability to get all out of worship that God intended us to get. We will enter a temple that is once again consecrated for God's purpose. Not just our local church, but God's temple in us. Dear God, please begin today to clean out my temple and make it once again a house of prayer. Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment