John 1:11 is a sad commentary on the life of Jesus, “He came unto His own but His own did not receive Him”. You see, there was no room for Jesus in Bethlehem where He was born, no room for Jesus in Nazareth where He grew up, no room for Him in Jerusalem where He died and certainly there is no room for Him in our culture today. The question would be, is there any room in your life for Him?
Perhaps you have seen the Reality TV show called “HOARDERS”. The series depicts people living in deplorable conditions in homes filled beyond capacity with such clutter and waste. You wonder, how a person could ever allow their homes to get in that condition.
In his early career, comedian George Carlin actually had some “clean” stand-up comedy routines that were funny and “G” rated. One routine was themed around Americans obsession with “Stuff”. We always want more stuff. We fill our rooms with stuff and then fill our closets with more stuff. When they are packed full of stuff, we fill our garages with more stuff to where we can’t even park our cars in the garage. Then we build storage sheds in our yards and fill them with more stuff until they overflow. Then we rent storage units and fill them with more stuff … well you get the point. Pretty funny stuff!
It reminds me of the account of Jesus clearing out the merchants and money changers from the outer court of the temple. It’s found in Mark 11:15-17:
“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 11:15-17
Jesus cleansed the temple early in His ministry but the religious merchants came back again. John 2:13–23 says, “When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”
What began as a service to foreign Jews (who needed to change money or purchase sacrifices) had become a business that had no place in the house of God. What gets lost when your spiritual life gets cluttered with stuff? Sinful clutter yes … but more often just everyday life clutter. Things we just get used to being in our lives that clutter our “temple” and don’t allow room for Jesus.
What would Jesus “clear out” of your life in order to make room for deeper communion with Him? Is there any room for Him in your temple today? “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”.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 My heart cries out the refrain, “Oh come to my heart Lord Jesus, there is room in my heart for thee.”
Be Free For God
I have a need of such clearance
as the Savior effected in the temple of Jerusalem,
a riddance of clutter of what is secondary
that blocks the way to the all-important central emptiness
which is filled with the presence of God alone.
–Jean Danielou
Check out our Web Site@ www.refocuschurch.org
Like us on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/refocuspastor
Follow us on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/refocuspastor
