“And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;” Mark 11:15
Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever just wanted to, in your anger, flip the tables over and go on a rant?
I have.
In fact, I am sure I have done it. But not always in a good way.
Not always at the right time.
But there is a time and a place for such anger; a time and place when that anger does not lead to sin, but produces the fruit of the Spirit.
When is it holy to overturn the tables? When is it OK to go on that rant?...
…when we overturn the tables at the entrance to our temples... our bodies... our hearts.
Are there things in your life that sit at your temple door? Things that are contrary to what God would want? Things that people see first, and know that they are not in line with His will… not in line with the confession of Christ?
Let’s call them moneychangers.
People come with what is their best and we don’t let them into our lives. We look at what they have and say, “Sorry, I don’t accept that. You’ll have to change that to fit my life… my way… my customs. Oh, and by the way, you lose a bit in the exchange rate, so you’ll have to make up for it.”
It is as if we have a sign above our heads that says “CASH ONLY” and the only currency we accept is the one from “my own little world.”
Jesus would upheave these tables in a second. And we should do the same.
I have a problem with this some times. My table has a sign that says, “If you don’t like me… too bad.” There is a fine line between not caring about what people think and not caring about people period.
Too often I dance on that line. And when I find myself setting up a table…
You got it… Our Good Friend spits on His hands (some goes through the holes of course!) and grabs the tables and gets to work.
And thank God that He does.
Table tipping party at 11:00. Have a good time.
SDG
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