One of the events in the Bible that we saw Jesus become very angry about was when he cleansed the temple from those people who made His temple a place of market. He became so angry that he drove them out by overturning the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons, oxen, and sheep. He made a whip of cords to drive them all out, including the animals. Jesus rebuked all of them by saying, "My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers." The chief priests and the other religious leaders were shocked at what Jesus had done. Instead of repenting from their sins, they sought to kill Him (Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-47; John 2:14-16). The chief priests were supposed to lead people to pray and worship God in the temple, but they used the temple as a place of business to sell animals for animal sacrifices. There was nothing wrong with selling pigeons, oxen, and sheep to those who needed animals to sacrifice to God, but they had to do it outside the temple. The priests brought the market to the temple so that they could make a profit and control and monopolize the business.
The priests became greedy and lost sight of their identity. God promised them that He would provide everything that they needed through the offerings and tithes of the people, not through any business means. We can easily become like the priests who lost sight of their identity if we become religious and lose our desperate dependence on God. Our relationship with God is always based on what is going on in our hearts, not what we do for Him. Recently, in Texas, a handful of pastors and ministers were disqualified from their positions because of secret sins. Many church members were hurt and felt betrayed because of what they had done. One of the respected teachers and an evangelist, Ravi Zacharias, lived a double life of sin until he died of cancer. Many of his sins were found after his death through the testimonies of his victims.
As believers in our Lord Jesus, we are called to walk with Him every day. We must choose to walk in God's truth every time we wake up in the morning. Let us pray every day that God will protect our hearts from willful sin. May the Lord always change our hearts to be repentant people, and not walk like unbelievers.
Questions for application: (Think through these questions carefully, meditate on them while answering them, and let the Spirit of God speak to you.) What happens when I hide sin in my heart? What should I do to avoid living a double life? Am I allowing God to cleanse my heart every day and guide me?
Write down all the worries you face today and lift them to God.
Prayer:
Dear Father in Heaven, thank you for reminding me today that my heart toward you is more important than what I do for you. You always search my heart to see if you are in the center of it. Please continue to change my heart and always give me a repentant heart. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
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