Holy Week: Monday
“Cleaning House”

We enter into Holy Week with a story that expresses the trigger that set Jesus off- worship in God’s house. Matthew 21: 12-13 (CSB) says, “Jesus went into the temple and threw out all those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. He said to them, ‘It is written, my house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of thieves.’”

Imagine yourself at the temple that day. You’re casually roaming around and see Jesus, often described as “meek and mild,” walk in and see on his face the hurt and anger of what the sacred place had turned into. Then, witness him physically flipping tables and chairs, hearing the clanking of coins falling, and people scurrying out of the way. One might stand bewildered at this scene. But, our viewpoint is from generations later. We can understand that the anger and hurt were fueled by his ministry, countless days of preaching to large crowds, healing the sick, and seeing that people still did not get it in his final days.

What area of your life needs a cleaning today? What have you filled in that space for your personal gain or satisfaction but is not satisfying to Jesus? Do you find distractions when worshipping? Are those distractions needing to be flipped over and removed to make space for getting closer to Jesus?

Perhaps it is time to clean house.

Prayer:

Holy One, we ask for forgiveness in the areas of our life that have become cluttered with our less than godly desires and wants. Open our eyes to identify what needs to be removed so that the space is open for us to be closer to you. If my worship is not centered on you, I’m missing the point of worship. Let us not create a den for thieves but a sacred house of worship in your name and glory. Amen.