Monday Reading: Matthew 21:12-13
Key Verse: Matthew 21:13
13 And He said to them, It is written, "My house shall be called the house of prayer"; but you have made it a den of thieves.
Devotion:
No matter how you look at it or how you try to explain things away, when we leave God out of our lives we cannot expect anything other than sin to enter into them! The people of Jerusalem had continue to allow people and their own ways to replace God and His ways to such an extent that Christ came in to make an example of what they had done. I am sure that when He spoke these words it was not just the physical temple that He was talking about but also looking forward to the time when our bodies become living temples for the Holy Spirit. Christ came in and caused a scene – how else would people take notice?
The more that we allow into our lives, the less we make room for Christ in our lives. We are just like that physical temple back then, we only have a certain amount of room within us and if we have filled up our lives with nothing more than worldly things then how are we expected to take time to worship our King? Those people in that temple were thinking of nothing else than themselves and their money making even though they were in a place that was supposed to be dedicated to God. When we are saved and invite Christ back into our lives He does not want us to then fill our lives with everything else so that we no longer have room for Him anymore!
The world is a very special place and one that has been created especially for us by our loving and gracious God. He has provided everything we need in exactly the right amounts so that we can survive in a universe that is otherwise extremely hostile to our bodies. This little corner of the universe has been created for us because of His love towards us. He has done so much so that we can live and be temples for the Holy Spirit. If we are going to squander all that He has given to us then we do not deserve to have Him indwell us! But still His love shines through and wants to shower us with forgiveness and His blessings...
Points to Ponder:
What is your life full of?
Has God still got a special place within your life?
