John 2:14-15 "In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves...so he made a whip out of cords, and drove them all from the temple area..."
1 Cor 6:19 "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit...?"
Encroachment. I don't like that word. I think that's what happened with the moneychangers in the temple courts. I don't think it was an overnight decision - "Let's make some money, let's set up shop in the temple."
No, I imagine it started as a service to Jewish pilgrims coming to the Feast in Jerusalem. Some of them wouldn't have had their animals to sacrifice. After awhile business started booming and it became more convenient to conduct it within the temple walls. And the holy became profane. That's what I think happened.
That's what happens to God's temple in me. Encroachment. What seems harmless, maybe even helpful, grows in my heart until, before long, my heart is clouded with the values, cares, concerns of the world. The light that is supposed to radiate from me is dimmed by the fog of compromised values.
One of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to clean house. I need Him to regularly do a "white glove inspection" of my heart. I need Him to reveal to me where the world has encroached. I need Him to get rid of the "junk" in my life so that I can see Him more clearly and others can see Him in me.
Lord, I love a clean house! Please come in and make yourself at home. :-)
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