Hello again!
This is what God gave me today in His word:
The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” (John 2:13-16)
Now, this has a rather obvious meaning, and a rather more hidden one. The obvious one I believe all can see: we shouldn’t monetize the house of God (the Church); we shouldn’t charge people to hear the Gospel. (Though a pastor should be paid for his preaching, the payment should come as a gift from the congregation, not as a requirement for hearing it)… But, let’s look at this from a different angle (this would be the somewhat more hidden meaning). Paul tells us we ourselves are the temple of God (see: 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 6:19).
Think about it a second: how often have we had money-changers inside yourself? To put it another way, how often have we loved money more than God? How often have we been sold to the idea of getting our own sacrifice, and attempting to make ourselves pure by that? (i.e. Make ourselves perfect by our own works). Or, perhaps a better question, what is currently inside of us? What is currently inside of God’s temple? Are we full of a desire to make more money, or to buy and make our own sacrifices, or is Christ there?
The reality is that we’ve all had something go awry in ourselves; in God’s temple. Some of us may even still have something wrong going on. Yet there is a solution! We need Jesus to come in with a whip, and drive away all the money-changers and dove-sellers inside of us. The easy way; the broad road leading to Hell, is to allow the people to stay. To keep them safe and stored away for private enjoyment. After all, if we do that, who are we hurting but ourselves? Plus, no one likes a whip. Yet it’s the only way! We must turn to Christ, and ask Him to free us from the trap that we’re stuck in; we can’t do it ourselves. We have to look to the cross, and focus on that, to purify our minds. We must ask Jesus to give us His strength, ask Him to whip away any evil that may be inside of us, only then can we actually be free.
The point being this: we can either leave the money-changers and bird-sellers within us, and keep them as friends, (all the way to Hell), or we can give them up, and turn to Christ. This is speaking to both believers and un-believers alike. We, the temples of God, get side-tracked with money, with material things, and with trying to offer our own sacrifices. (Please don’t ask how it’s possible for a temple to offer sacrifices. I figure all things are possible when we’re talking about Spiritual things). The un-believer has the same problems, yet on a far greater scale. It’s not just a pleasant distraction, but a full-time occupation, to put it in simple terms. Both parties must turn to Christ. No matter what, it’s sort of a requirement… Unless, of course, we actually want eternal condemnation.
You are Loved!
Joshua Cleveland
Joshua's Blog 