24 Days until Easter ( A Continuation of 25 Days until Easter)

24 Days until Easter (A Continuation of 25 Days until Easter)

Picking up where I left off.  Jesus rode into Jerusalem Sunday and made His way straight to the Temple.  He walked in, saw the corruption, then He walked out.  He had all night to think about what He had witnessed.  He also had all night to think about how He was going to deal with it.  He was going to clean house.  With His disciples, they went down to Jerusalem and into the Temple.  He knew He had little time left on earth and every day would be lived with great purpose.  There was a lesson to be learned, and He’d be the one to teach it.  The sellers and moneychangers had lost sight of what was holy.  They had turned a place of worship into a place to scam travelers who came to worship. 

“In the temple He found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the moneychangers 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 moneychangers 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.”  His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”  So the Jews said to Him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?”  Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”  The Jews then said, “ it has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?”  But he was speaking about the temple of His body.  When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.” John 2:14-22

Jesus is righteous.  He is just.  The crookedness that had filled the outer court of the Temple, which was meant for worship and prayer, caused Him to act.  It was a house of prayer for all nations to worship, not a money making market.  They completely lost sight of what was pure and holy and it deeply disturbed and moved Jesus.  When they brought things into the Temple that didn’t belong, He walked in and cleaned it out.  With force. 

I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but it happened.  Josh and I became landlords.  And just keeping it real, I wasn’t cut out for the rental business.  I hate asking people for money, even when it’s mine.  I hate telling people how to care for a home, even when it’s mine.  When we moved back to Pensacola from Jacksonville after Hurricane Ivan, there weren’t many houses left to choose from for our growing family, but we ended up buying a lovely little home.  It was a little fixer-upper, but she had good bones.  We fixed her up and lived there a few years and I have wonderful memories from that home.  However, soon after Jude was born, we realized that one bathroom was going to be difficult for a family of four.  And there were some other characteristics that were missing from the home that we wanted for our still growing family.  So, we moved and put our little house up for rent.  Well, there was one renter who moved in with her kids and I was so happy that she was excited about the house.  After she moved in, we let her raise her kids in the home without much interference.  It had been a while since I had been to the property when I drove by after shopping in the area.  The scene was like something out of a horror movie.  Screens torn, yard overgrown (like really, REALLY overgrown), trash everywhere, even the beautiful trees had been spray painted with graffiti.  If that was what the outside looked like, what in the world did the inside look like?  So I called to schedule a time to do a walk through of the property.  And to my horror, the inside was destroyed.  The overwhelming stench of dog poop and urine was the first one to greet me at the door. It was bad.  Really, really bad. Walls were ruined. The hardwood floors were ruined. Doors were ruined.  Cabinets ruined.  Appliances ruined.  A squirrel (that had become a pet) had been allowed to run free and chew to his little heart’s desire.  And the trash.  Rotten food.  Spoiled linens.  How did this happen?  How could this place that was intended to be a place to live life meaningfully and to raise children, turn into such a septic dump not suitable for living.  There was no place to eat at a table.  There was no place to read to children.  There was no place to sit together as a family.  There was no place to do homework.  It just flat-out wasn’t fit to be a home.  This renter lost sight of what a home should be.  So, in came the dumpsters.  It needed a complete cleansing.  And it was one ugly, nasty job.  But, it needed to be done.  Every square inch had to be scrubbed. There were layers upon layers of filth that needed to be removed. Every crack cleaned out and sealed up.  Floors sanded and refinished.  Cabinets and doors had to be taken down and refinished.  Every piece of hardware and every knob, replaced.  Every light fixture, replaced.  Every outlet, replaced.  Carpet, replaced.  Window screens, replaced.  It had to be purged.  It had to be cleaned.  It had to be made new. 

How many times in life do we need to be made new?  There is so much that I can take away from this passage of scripture that deals with the physical building of the Temple, but I want to focus on the temple of my body.  If I were to make an exhibit of all that I take in physically, mentally and spiritually with a physical representation, how would Jesus feel to walk through that exhibit?  Imagine that.  A room filled with tables, and being the person that I am, they’d be decorated nicely, with themed centerpieces.  At table #1, all the things I’ve ever read, displayed in the exhibit for my Savior to examine.  At table #2, my thoughts.  At table #3, the things I’ve watched.  At table #4, the things I’ve consumed by eating and drinking.  It wouldn’t just be four tables, it’d be an entire building full of tables, if I were to put all the things deep in my heart out on display.  And what would He think?  Would there be some tables overturned?  The things of the heart are my greatest concern.  If my attitude or the things I’ve thought to myself were on display, I feel certain that there might be a few areas that would feel the wrath of the whip.

Just like with fixing the rental house up, we couldn’t leave grime in the corners and just paint over it.  In time, the hidden grime would have become a bigger issue, so we had to get down in even the smallest of crevices with a toothbrush to get every last bit of grime out.  It’s the same thing with my heart,  leaving small bits of grime may be the easier way to go.  I mean, who really enjoys getting on their hands and knees with a toothbrush and meticulously scrubbing out unwanted grime in every single crack and cranny.  But that small bit of grime corrupts my heart.

Today, we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  My heart is a dwelling place for the Lord.

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?  You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.  So glorify God in your body.” -1 Corinthians 6:19-20

I am not my own.  I was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.  

Dear Lord, purge the things of my heart that are corrupt.  Take out the things in my life that are displeasing.   I ask that you help me see clearly that which is pure and that which is not.  Make it known to me the holy and the unholy.  I don’t just invite You to examine my heart, but I plead with You to examine my heart. Flip the tables that need to be turned.  Cleanse the grime that needs to be cleansed.  Wash me and make me new.  I realize that I am not my own. I am Yours.