You are God’s temple

Devotional

Do you sometimes feel unworthy to come to God?

Well, there is good news for you today, this first day of Holy Week.

After announcing himself to the crowds as the Messiah on Palm Sunday, Jesus returned to the suburb of Bethany for the night. The very next morning, he and his disciples walked back into the Holy City and into the temple.

When they arrived, Jesus found money changers charging exorbitant rates to convert Roman money into the currency required for the annual temple tax. They were also demanding unfair prices for the only sacrificial animals the priests would accept. In anger, Jesus drove these corrupt merchants from the temple.

Why was he so upset?

He explained in Mark 11:17: “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”

The word nations comes from the original Greek word ethnos, which means “all races.” This would include the very Gentiles being taken advantage of by the merchants. See, Jesus was making the point that God intended his temple to be a place where everyone was welcome to meet with him.

He still does.

Here’s why it matters: because your Savior paid the price for your salvation, “you are God’s temple” since “God’s Spirit dwells in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16). Because of that truth, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, my emphasis).

You don’t need to go to Jerusalem to meet with God.

His mercy and grace are available here and now.

All you must do is draw near.

Let us do that together now as we enter a time of guided prayer.

Today’s devotional is written by Jim Denison