And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.'” Mark 11:17
In Mark 11:12-18, Jesus clears the temple of all the merchants that were selling things at the temple. These merchants took advantage of the people travelling from far away places that could not bring their own animals to sacrifice or used the currency required at the temple. The merchants sold their products at rip off prices. So Jesus clears them out of the temple because they were robbing the people.
It’s like when you go to a sporting venue during a game or the airport. The vendors there have higher prices because you have no other options. It was a similar situation at the temple.
But what does Jesus say about the temple itself? In Mark 11:17, Jesus says the temple is a house of prayer. People at the temple should be praying to the Lord and worshiping Him.
Did you know that as a believer, you are also a temple of God? In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Paul says that we are a temple of God and that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. Therefore, we must spend time praying, worshiping, and having fellowship with the Lord. The more, the better.
However, due to our fleshly desires and wants, our hearts get cluttered with worries, material possessions, and the pleasures of life. In the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23), Jesus explains that the seeds in the thorny soil are choked by the worries of life and the deceitfulness of wealth (Matthew 13:22) and in the end, does not produce any fruit.
Check yourself today. Is there anything that is taking the your focus away form God? Ask God to search your heart and ask Him to help clear your heart of worries, deceits of wealth, and the longing for pleasures in life. Just like the temple in Jerusalem, God can clear and purify your heart too.
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24
