Tuesday 8 Apr 2014

April 8: Matthew 21:12-17

Key Verse: Matthew 21:13
And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”

Devotion:
This is one of those passages that has given so many people something to talk about, and it was no different at the time it happened either! Jesus came into the temple and was distraught that the people in charge of the temple had allowed all manner of people in to do their trading instead of reserving the temple for what it was designed – for the worshipping of God. Jesus was very upset that men had done something so wrong in the face of God and, I think, must have taken it in the same manner as people worshipping idols.

Now I’m sure many people will disagree with what was thought or even done at the time; we can see that through all the actions we see in films and pictures made of this event throughout history. We are told very little in our bibles because expanding on what was done would detract from the real message which I believe to be that we need to have places where we can worship God and not have to face the world and all that it stands for. Our places of worship should be exactly that, places where we are free to worship God.

Does this mean that we should only ever allow church services and nothing else in church buildings? Think for a moment how you would define worship. Do you limit it to the time you spend on Sunday in a congregation, or do you worship God through many different ways? I personally worship God in many ways and I try to make sure that worship is done every day of the week. I know there are things in life that are not a part of worship, like working for a living, so I don’t bring those into my worship with God. This does not mean I exclude God from them, quite the opposite!

God wants us to be able to focus on worshipping Him; if that means setting aside a place where we can do that, then we should be doing so. Don’t bring the world into your worship with God but rather try to take God into your world. Keep your time of worship as something special that you share with Him; share it with others too, spread the Gospel, share His love… but don’t bring it down to just another thing you do, keep it special!

Points to Ponder:
How do you worship God?

Do you have a special relationship with God?