Worship Is A Verb

Posted by Melissa

WHEN WAS the last time you felt angry because someone’s actions disappointed you? For me it was when my wife and I drove up to our house to discover my car had been stolen. It’s a strange feeling to be angry and hurt at the same time.

Read Mark 11:15-19. Contemplate verse 17.
 
What was going on that made Jesus angry?
 
Why would that have made Jesus angry?
 
How did the priests and scribes respond to Jesus’ actions?
 Why were they afraid of Jesus?
 
Jesus didn’t like the things He saw at the temple that kept people from truly worshiping. What kind of things would He not like in your life?

That day in the temple, it seems clear that Jesus was angry and hurt at the same time. He had walked into the temple—the place where people were supposed to serve the one true God—and found thieves. The money-changers and religious leaders were profiting from the religious traditions of the day. The temple was the one place where worship should have been on full display; and instead, greed was the primary focus.

It must have saddened Jesus to see the people He loved so far from the truth. Yet, we still do the same thing today when we allow barriers to get in the way of true worship. We do it in our daily lives when we let things distract us from focusing on God and in worship services when we text, daydream, or write notes. Are you making God’s house a place of worship or a den of thieves?

Posted in Devotions, Girls | Tagged Camp Crestridge for Girls, Camp Ridgecrest for Boys, Devotion, Mark, Weekly Devotions