Message from Scripture: 6/20/2020

Today’s message from Scripture comes from John 2:15-16; “After making a whip out of cords, he drove everyone out of the temple with their sheep and oxen. He also poured out the money changers’ coins and overturned the tables. He told those who were selling doves, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”

It is interesting that our Lord, both at the beginning of His earthly ministry (John 2), and then at the end (Matt. 21), saw the need to cleanse the temple. In both instances, there were issues with money changers and those selling animals for sacrifices. In both instances, Jesus gained their attention in a dramatic way and spoke of what it was God desired from those who worshipped him. What was it Jesus desired to be true of those who approach God?

As with everything in life, there should always be a sense of awe and respect for God. Being in the temple wasn’t to be, as Jesus said, like being in a den of robbers, but a place of communion with God, of reverence for the holy. Sometimes we too can get lost in the motions of our routine and forget the nature of the holy God we serve, of the reverence and awe being in the presence of God should bring.

We should also understand there is always a cost to have a relationship with God. There was more of driving the herds and flocks through the temple happening here, than considering the quality of the animal to be offered to God. When Jesus calls us to follow Him, it isn’t just the activity of service He wants, but a loving and committed heart from which it comes, the quality of a life that is being offered to Him.

Never forget God is interested in who we are and what we do, because He is interested in us. He wants to come first with us, and in doing so, we allow Him to do His best for us. Seek first the kingdom, and find God’s best today, every day. God bless.

Robert