Holy Week #2

Burning for God

     
“They came to Jerusalem, and he went into the temple and began to throw out those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple. He was teaching them: ‘Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves!’”

Mark 11:15–17

Worship drives everything. The everyday tasks in life—all that we think, say, and feel—are to be done for the glory of God. We obey God because we love God and follow Him as an act of worship. However, we also need to be wary of the danger of complacency. We know that we must not reduce our time with God in worship to a simple checkbox or even a destination, yet in our fallen world, even hearts that once burned hot for God can grow cold.

So, how can we keep our hearts burning hot for God? Jesus considered the internal thoughts of the individual to be important, even as important as the external practices that all could see. He felt the small things significant, examining whether even daily life’s everyday tasks glorified God. After all, daily routines without a God-centered purpose can lead even those with the best intentions astray.

What is your worship like? I’m not asking about your engagement during Sunday services (while that is part of it). I’m asking about your life. I’d bet that those who were buying and selling had never said, “Today, I’m going to disobey God by selling in the temple.” Instead, I’d say that this eventually happened because they started to compromise, make tiny allowances, and change things for convenience… and in time, the result was sin.

Consider your own life. No one wakes up and says, “Today, I’m going to leave my spouse.” Or, “Today, I will steal money from my company.” Instead, they start with minor compromises. A friendly tone begins to get too familiar… and then flirty. An impure thought is allowed to linger…and in time- the once-burning-hot passion for one’s spouse is cooled and exchanged for someone else. Or just a few minutes extra on break today… an expense here or there… a “small borrow” here. Without accountability, a person with unquestionable integrity becomes a thief.
The same is true for our relationship with God. Once burning hot for God, a person can become cold because of the snowball effect of sin. The only way to correct it is to acknowledge it.

What area of your life has become cold? First, ask God to identify the cold places in your heart and mind. Then, ask him to bring his warmth. Finally, ask him to identify the practical steps you must take to stop the snowball of sin that is cooling your worship.


Self-assessment can be challenging. Looking deeply into one’s life can be painful yet rewarding. The biggest and most challenging questions we can ask ourselves are the “Why?” questions.

“Why” do I respond like that?
“Why” do I say things like that?
“Why” do I think those thoughts?


The afternoon after Jesus flipped the tables and ran everyone out of the Temple, Jesus talked to the large crowds again.

Take a few moments and read about Jesus’ last public teaching.

Matthew 23:1–30 ESV

Not exactly the most encouraging speech. Jesus knows something that you and I also know… Sometimes the truth hurts. Jesus points out the clear breakdown between “belief” and “practice.” And it all comes down to a matter of “Why.” Sometimes, if we aren’t careful, what we say we believe and practice opposes each other. Sometimes the Christian virtues we try to live by are seen as the goal instead of the real goal itself.

Take prayer, for example. We can sometimes hear or read of men like Martin Luther and can often be encouraged by his lifestyle. Luther famously had a powerful prayer life. It is said that he would pray upwards of 2 hours a day, and if he were swamped, upwards of 3 hours a day because he was “too busy not to.” When we read or hear stories like that, we may also be encouraged to examine our prayer lives. We may say, “Well, starting today, I’m going to pray for 30 minutes a day without distraction.” Great. That would be a great thing. But there is also a danger that must be pointed out.

While the discipline of setting aside time for prayer is a good thing, if we make that the goal, as did the church leaders of Jesus’ day, we miss the point of prayer altogether.

The point of spiritual practices (like church attendance, prayer, fasting, silence, and bible reading… among others) is to connect with God. In other words, the discipline of practicing prayer for the sake of being a better pray-er is wasteful.

Jesus wants our hearts. He wants our stated beliefs to affect how we live. He wants our stated beliefs to impact and mold our “whys.”

Spend a few minutes in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to search your heart and reveal the areas where your stated and practiced beliefs are in sync. Thank God for giving you those ways to connect to Him.

Ask the holy spirit to reveal where your stated and practiced beliefs are not in sync. Then, ask him to expose your hypocrisy.

Consider how the “whys” behind your lifestyles must be redeemed, refocused, and changed.




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