Morning Devotion & Quite Time for the day | Blinded by Human Pursuits

Morning Devotion & Quite Time for the day| Blinded by Human Pursuits

Today’s QT – Mar 8, 2022 (TUE)

Blinded by Human Pursuits

 Scripture (NIV)

⁴¹ As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it

⁴² and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.

⁴³ The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.

⁴⁴ They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”

⁴⁵ When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling.

⁴⁶ “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

⁴⁷ Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him.

⁴⁸ Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.

Despite receiving praise from the people, Jesus knows that Jerusalem will soon demand His crucifixion. Ultimately, their rejection will lead to judgment: the city and the temple will be destroyed by the Romans. Just like how the people only wanted Jesus to execute political liberation, we can also be tempted to view Jesus as merely a means to immediately fix our personal problems. But this will only lead to disappointment. Jesus is saddened at how people do not understand His true purpose of bringing them true liberation from sin and death. May we possess a more balanced view, knowing that while God cares for us and our urgent issues, He has greater purposes in mind and ultimately seeks to make us whole, not only in body but in all aspects of our being.

When have you blamed God for His apparent lack of action? How is the promise of salvation better than relief from your current personal problems?

Jesus exercises swift judgment in the temple courts on those who have commercialized God’s holy temple and seek to profit at others’ expense. This common practice at the time of transforming a temple into a bazaar demonstrates how greed can sneak up on each of us. What is most tragic is not the buying and selling but the enraged response of the religious leaders at Jesus for taking away their profits, and their refusal to repent. Often, God will intervene and deal decisively with the idolatry in our hearts. Instead of bemoaning our loss of temporary pleasure, let us humble ourselves and ask the Lord to finish His work in rooting out whatever keeps us from drawing closer to Him.

How have you experienced the Lord uprooting idols out of your life? How are you susceptible to greed and how can you guard against it?

Dear Father, I confess how easily I can fall into greed and idolatry. Help me remember that You have greater purposes for me so that I may walk with You in faithfulness and purity. In Jesus’ name, amen.