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by Buzz Dahlen Have you ever wondered why one of the first things Jesus did was to go to the temple and turned over all of the tables? On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: "'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations' ? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'" Mark 11:15-17 I know that many people use this verse to show that God can get angry and so that gives us permission to get angry, too. I think that Jesus had a good reason to be angry and gave us an example of when we should be angry. Jesus walked into the temple, God’s house and saw how it had been turned into something that was not good. He saw how it had changed from the place where God lived to a place where robbers live. The temple represented God’s dwelling, but after Jesus died and rose from the dead, God no longer lived in temples made of stone, he lives in the heart of the believer. But it was Solomon who built the house for him. "However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says: "'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? Acts 7:47-49 What is the condition of your heart? Is it a place where God can dwell or is it a place where robbers have moved into. If your answer is the latter then you should be angry. You should turn the tables over and clean the house that God wants to live in. I know that it may seem like too hard of a task… I recently had to go clean out Ingrid’s old room, because I want to use it as a guest room. There were a number of times that I went op there to start and just turned around and went back downstairs because the task seemed to hard. Where do you start? Finally, I was determined that I wanted to use that room and in I went. It was a project and it was not completed in one day. There was a lot of trash that had to be removed. It was not that Ingrid was a messy person. It was just years of stuff that became a part of the room and you just did not notice it any more. That’s what happens in our heart. We begin to collect things over time and after awhile they become a part of the decorum. It is important that we take a look into our heart and see what we have collected. There are things that should not be in our life. We need to turn things over… In reality, we do need to turn things over; we need to turn our heart over to God. He will clear our heart and then move in. During this week, take a look at the condition of your heart. If you have never given your heart to Jesus Christ, what a great opportunity you have, right now. You can pray a simple prayer: “Dear Jesus, I realize that I am a sinner. I realize that my heart is all messed up. Please come into my life, change my heart and live there.” That is all you have to do. He takes care of the rest. If you have given your heart to Christ but have allowed things to clutter up your heart, God has made it simple for you, too. John writes: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 If we confess that we have cluttered up our heart God is faithful and will forgive us and clean up our heart for us. If you do this you, the resurrection of Jesus will mean a lot more. You will have something wonderful to celebrate this Sunday. Speaking of Easter Sunday, I want to invite you again to come and celebrate with us at 9:00am. Plan to stay after the service and enjoy a delicious Easter breakfast. Everyone is welcome! |
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