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Fire in my Bones

Let Him drive them out

“On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 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 11:15-17NIV)

Why would the Lord Jesus drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple area in Jerusalem on the occasion recorded for us by Mark in the bible text above? First, it was because they were using the temple for wrong purposes. As the Lord points out, that temple is God’s house, figuratively. And as the house of God, it was set up as a place of prayer and intercession for anyone who would come to Him for forgiveness of sins and for mercy and favour. Unfortunately, the Jews and their leaders allowed a market to be set up there, giving room for all kinds of people to gather there and do all kinds of unrighteous things. So, the Lord, in His great zeal for His Father’s house, had to step in and let them see that He would not allow them to carry on in the nonsense they were doing in it and with it.

The second reason the Lord drove out those people and cleared the temple of their mess was that He had the authority to do so. In the book of Hebrews, chapter 3, we are shown that He is the Son over God’s house. That means the authority to build God’s house and determine what is allowed or disallowed there belongs to Him. Actually, in John’s record of a similar incident, we see that immediately after Jesus did this, the people asked Him to show them the authority or right that He had to do so. And He told them that He had the right to do so because He is the builder of God’s real temple, which is man’s body. But they did not understand what He was saying. (Cf. John 2:13-22)

Well then, if the Lord would not allow God’s figurative house, the temple in Jerusalem, to be turned into a market and used for wrong purposes, do you think He will allow God’s real house, His real temple, which is you and me, to be used for purposes that are contrary to the will of God for us? The answer is ‘No’. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” (1Cor 3:16-17NIV)

Did you see that? We are the real temple of God, not a house, not a building, not an auditorium, however magnificent it may be. We are the house of God, the tabernacle in which He dwells. And He reserves to build us up the way He wants and determine what stays in our lives and what goes out of them. Therefore, anything or anyone that desecrates our lives and makes it unfit for God’s purpose is desecrating God’s house and making it unfit for Him to dwell in. And such a thing or person is in danger of being destroyed by God.

Unfortunately, many of us do not understand this, just as the Jews and their leaders did not understand how sacred and dear God’s house is to Him. So, we get angry when He moves to clean and clear our lives of the mess that men and the world are making of them. Yes, we get upset and even work towards hindering Him, when He begins to separate our lives from certain wrong relationships or take some things away from us. But, apart from the fact that He has absolute right to do with our lives as He pleases, He is doing these things in us for our good. He is doing them to make our lives fit for Him to live in and realise the purpose for which He has made us. And until we allow Him to do what He needs to do in us, our lives will remain a market for all kinds of individuals and things to operate in and mess up. Then He may be forced to reject us as unfit for the accomplishment of His purpose here on earth.

Now I don’t want to be rejected as an unfit vessel for the fulfilment of God’s purpose in this world. That is why I yield myself to Him to wash my life and rid it of all the things that are buying and selling in it and trying to use it for purposes different from what He has ordained it for. And will you too do the same? Will you yield your life to God to cleanse it and build it up to be what it is meant to be? Or will you keep struggling with Him and allow your life to remain a market for all kinds of people and things to desecrate? Well, the ball is in your court, and I counsel that you play it wisely. May God help you.

Copyright © 2020, Reality Desk, a ministry of Alaythia Bible Church –This material is the sole property of Reality Desk. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice. Please direct any questions you may have to alaythiabiblechurch@gmail.com / alaythia4all@gmail.com or call: 08037592851 (WhatsApp Number: 07085711280)
By: J.O. Lawal | Date: August 12, 2020 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 3, No. 13

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