MIDWEEK MEDITATION

In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

John 2:14-17

Somewhere along the way it had gotten off track. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be, and Jesus knew it. In fact, He felt it. 

Jesus was passionate about worshipping God and it pained Him to see the temple reduced to a one-stop-shop, convenience-driven enterprise. You were supposed to hear the sound of penitent prayers offered up to heaven in God’s holy place. Instead, all that could be heard were herds of animals bleating and money changers calling for the next in line. They didn’t see it. The zeal of Jesus shocked them, it disrupted them, and it angered them, but it didn’t change them because they refused to see it. They had lost the “why” amidst the “how.” 

Does the zeal and passion of Jesus challenge your worship? When was the last time you felt that passionate about God? 

Just like those in Jesus’ day, these questions may become disruptive to our even-keeled spiritual routines. Instead of being dismissive, angry, or ashamed, what would it look like to come before God and ask that He reconnect us with the “why” this week? 

God, open my heart up to what You are doing. Create in me a passion for who You are and what You have called me to and keep me far from a cold-hearted religion.