Cleanse your Temple
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. John 2:14
In today’s reading, Jesus went to the temple in Jerusalem at Passover. When He got to the temple, He found that the priest had brought in outside venders to sell animals for sacrifices for their own prophet. They had completely commercialized the process that God had put in place for the cleansing of sin. Needless to say, Jesus set things straight and although He upset some seemingly important people, He determined to keep the temple from being tainted by those who were taking advantage of the people.
As I read this passage, I see a parallel to keeping our own temple clean still today. As reborn children of God, our bodies have now become the temple of God. He lives in us and through us. When we receive Him, we invite Him in to be the Lord of our life and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The problem with that is if we do not keep our guard up and continually offer ourselves up as a living sacrifice, the enemy and outside influences can creep in to defile our temple. Distractions, other people and addictive habits can take the throne of our heart that was designed for our King to sit in. It is vital for us to keep inventory of our thoughts, actions and words to ensure that we are keeping our temple clean. When an extorter does get in, we need to become determined even to the point of violently chasing the evil out or our heart and our lives to offer it back up again to our Lord.
I understand this all too well from my own life experience. Having received salvation at a young age and being closely watch over through my childhood, I didn’t fully grasp this concept of being responsible for keeping my temple clean. I had a naïve view that because I was saved, I would not be in a position to be threatened by the enemy of my soul. That could not have been further from the truth. The fact is that because I did not keep my guard up, gradually habits and people creeped into my life that took over the place where my Savior should have occupied. I let outside forces and people pull me in a direction far from home and then filled my temple with filth and bad habits. Until one day, I came to myself and recognize my need to drive these things out of my life and purge out the things that were trying to destroy me. Thank God for His goodness and grace that relentlessly chased me down and pulled me out of a deep pit, over and over again. Now I am on guard and keep my temple clean from the outside media, distraction and temptation that would try to put the blinders back on me again.
Today I want to encourage you to keep your temple clean and free from the outside corruption that is trying to get in. Do an assessment of what is coming out of your mouth and life and if you see or hear anything that is contrary to God’s best, take time to investigate what the source is. What are you allowing in that is coming out in your words or actions that needs to be adjusted. Eliminate those threats and replace them with Worship, the Word and Prayer. Fill your temple with the fullness of God’s love and goodness and when it is full of these things, there will be no room for the enemy to occupy.
Today’s scripture reading: John 2:13-25
13 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.
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.
16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”
17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”
18 So the Jews answered and said to Him, “What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”
19 Jesus answered and said to them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
20 Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”
21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
22 Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.
24 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men,
25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.
The Daily Dose 