Good Morning Friends,
“Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. ‘It is written,’ he said to them, ‘My house will be a house of prayer'; but you have made it “a den of robbers.”’ Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.” (Luke 19:45-48)
In Jesus’ day, the Jewish leaders had allowed the temple to become a place of business – even corrupt business. They profited from the extortion they allowed with vendors charging unfair prices for the sacrificial animals and huge exchange rates for changing the common coins into coins acceptable to pay the temple tax. The temple was no longer focused on the worship of God; greed had infiltrated and corrupted it.
Not much is sold in places of worship today and very little of what is sold is done so at corrupted prices. Generally, what is sold in places of worship is focused on providing ministry and help to people at reduced cost, not at extortionary rates. It doesn’t seem like such things as that would have upset Jesus so.
But I wonder are there ways in which we use our places of worship today for things which are not right? Would that be true if we were using our places of worship as venues to say what people want to hear instead of preaching that is faithful to the message of God? Would that be true if our worship assemblies were more about their entertainment value than about an honest focus on the Lord? Perhaps another way we could misuse our places of worship is to focus them on own needs instead of a focus on God? And perhaps you can think of other ways it is possible to misuse our places of worship today.
The point is that when we gather our focus should be on the Lord – on what He says – on what He desires – on His honor and glory.
His, by Grace,
Steve
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