Christ's Last Days: Monday

Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling. He overturned tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. "It is written, " He said to them, "My house will be called a house of prayer,

but you are making it a 'den of robbers.'"

Matthew 21:12-13

Wesley asked me this past weekend if I'd want to study what Jesus did each day during the last week before He was crucified. I can't help but wonder what Jesus was thinking and how He felt these last few days.

The more I thought about the above scriptures, the more I thought about how my body is His Holy temple. It says in 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."

We don't have to go to church to be in God's House; His house is our hearts. He lives inside of me and inside of you. I wonder what things are there that He'd overturn. Instead of tables and benches, it's probably words I've said; thoughts going through my head that I shouldn't have; doubts that try to take root in my beliefs. It could be worry or frustration, greed or selfishness. It could be as simple as what I watch on television. Those things can be just as bad as what those people were doing in His Father's House. So often we think it is our body, our life, our money, our space...me, me, me. But it isn't at all. All that I am is because of what He has done in my life. All that I have, was given to me by Him. We get so lost in "us" that it is so easy to forget "Him".

On the flip side, what about my life is bringing Him worship and praise? Is my life a reflection of Him or of just me? I was reminded by someone recently that no matter what situation we are in-we are representing Him. Do others see it when they look at you? Can they tell that something is different?

This morning I had to get my drivers license renewed. I stood there in a line with every sort of person you could imagine. There were old and young, white and black, and Asian; there were even some German ladies in front of me. I watched the lady behind the desk as each person came and told her their situation. She was so friendly and she smiled so big. No one got impatient or rude with her because it would have been really hard to be mean to someone like her! Now I don't know if she is a christian or is just a nice person, but I do know that she left an impression on me. It made me wonder, how do I act in public in the mundane, aggravating situations? Do I get impatient or lose my temper? Or do people walk away thinking the same things I thought about that lady behind the desk? I pray it is the latter! For better or worse, our lives are His, not our own. I pray it won't be so easy to forget that!